A greeting is an intentional act where human beings make their presence known to each other through audible, physical, or combined methods. This communication suggests a type of relationship and indicates social status between individuals coming in contact.
In Morocco, the kingdom requires that the greeting always be made with the right hand since the left hand is traditionally considered unclean. The most common Chinese greeting, Gongshou, features the right fist placed in the palm of the left hand while both hands are shaken back and forth two or three times.
The basic gesture remained normal from the Middle Ages until men typically ceased wearing hats in the mid-20th century. The civilian Secretary General of NATO Joseph Luns tipped his hat at a troop review in 1983 when this gesture was becoming old-fashioned.
Some languages use the same word as both greeting and farewell such as Aloha in Hawaiian or Shalom in Hebrew. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first citation of hey is found as early as the 12th year of the 13th century which is 1225.
Voicemail greetings are pre-recorded messages that are automatically played to callers when the answering machine answers. Traditional greetings have adapted for voicemail systems and digital communication contexts so modern adaptations preserve the core intent of making presence known through new channels.