Oleg
Hey and Hi Hello friends, Can you help me? My Canadian coworker starts his letters to me with "Hey". And some of Americans say "Hey" to me. When I asked my friend from US what the difference betweem Hey an Hi, he told me that Hey is extremly informal. And in a past Hey was only for horses. I don't wanna be a horse :). Why are you use "Hey"? In Rusiian we have a similar word "Эй". But it use only by lumpens, homeless alcoholics, and such vermins without education. We use it when we want to insult somebody. Please, tell me your opinion. Thanks.
Oct 1, 2014 8:15 AM
Corrections · 12
2

Hey and Hi

Hello friends,
Can you help me? My Canadian coworker starts his letters to me with "Hey". And some of Americans say "Hey" to me.
When I asked my friend from US, what is the difference between Hey and Hi, he told me that Hey is extremely informal and in the past Hey was only for horses. I don't want to be a horse :). Why are you using "Hey"? In Russian we have a similar word, "Эй"but it is only used only by lumpens, homeless alcoholics, and such uneducated vermins without education. We use it when we want to insult somebody. Please, tell me your opinion. Thanks.

October 1, 2014
1

"Hi" is the informal of "hello" which is itself an informal of "How do you do?"

 

"Hey" is not only informal but rude and insulting, if used by itself. So don't ever use it.  I never heard of it being used for a horse. "Whoa" is used to tell a horse to stop.  "Giddup" to go.

 

 

Depending on the context and the tone of voice, "Hey you", "Hey there" can be used among close friends informally.  For example, you two haven't seen each for a while, they carry an implication of "long time no see, so what have you been doing?" etc.  However, if you see a someone doing something sneaky, you can say it to mean, "What are you trying to do?  You think I'm blind and don't know what you are trying to do?"


"Hi" just means hello with no other implication.

 

Hey and Hi

Hello friends,
Can you help me? My Canadian coworker starts his letters to me with "Hey". And some of Americans say "Hey" to me.
When I asked my friend from US what the difference betweem Hey an Hi, he told me that Hey is extremly informal. And in a past Hey was only for horses. I don't wanna be a horse :). Why are you use "Hey"? In Rusiian we have a similar word "Эй". But it use only by lumpens, homeless alcoholics, and such vermins without education. We use it when we want to insult somebody. Please, tell me your opinion. Thanks.

October 1, 2014

Hey and Hi

Hello friends,
Can you help me? My Canadian coworker starts his letters to me with "Hey". And some Americans say "Hey" to me.
When I asked my friend from US what is the difference between Hey and Hi, he told me that Hey is extremely informal and in the past Hey was only for horses. I don't want to be a horse :). Why are you using "Hey"? In Russian we have a similar word "Эй", but it is only used by lumpens, homeless alcoholics, and such uneducated vermin. We use it when we want to insult somebody. Please, tell me your opinion. Thanks.

October 1, 2014
Hi, I'm a native English speaker and I would use hey as a greeting. Its informal but I wouldn't say 'rude' or meant for speaking to different 'class' of people. I wouldn't use it often in a professional email but if I was emailing a friend I might. That being said, what Michael said about hey being used to get peoples attention is correct.
October 1, 2014
Thanks Michael. But they really write it like greatings. Like that: "Hey, I looked at your file and.... Regards John".
October 1, 2014
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