Hi yourself: rudeness or not?
One day a friend of mine greeted me saying "hi", so I greeted him back saying "hi yourself": just tired of saying "hi" and "hello" every time and wanted to greet my friend a very different way. Then he asked if I have a problem; he probably considered such a greeting as rude. Was he right? Is "hi yourself" really impolite?

I'll appreciate you just answering the question. :)

Question

Hi yourself: rudeness or not?
One day a friend of mine greeted me saying "hi", so I greeted him back saying "hi yourself": just tired of saying "hi" and "hello" every time and wanted to greet my friend a very different way. Then he asked if I have a problem; he probably considered such a greeting as rude. Was he right? Is "hi yourself" really impolite?

I'll appreciate you just answering the question. :)

Answer

New Zealand English (Closer to British English)
.
Impolite: no.
With agressive tone: maybe.
Normal use would be as you intended it. Jovial & more interesting than "hi".
.
Rather like take care of yourself.
.
With a different tone., it could indeed be taken to be saying that the person should not have said that.
Imaging saying 
It is not my job: Do it yourself!
.
Seems the interpretation might be regional.

Answer

Thank you all for help!

Answer

I agree with John. As John suggests, it sounds confusing at best and many (most ?) will think it rude or flippant. No native speaker would say it where I am.

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I'm sure you meant "yourself" as "to you too" but he probably thought you meant "Go say hi to yourself" or something, LOL! Hope he cleared the misunderstanding... I usually say "Yo!" so maybe you can use that too if you want a new greeting haha 😂

Answer

I could see how it might be taken as rude or flippant.  It doesn't have a clear meaning to me as a native speaker in the U.S., so I wouldn't recommend it; it could cause confusion or misunderstanding.