The question of who said the first "hi" is tricky, as the greeting evolved from "hello". While the reference material states that Thomas Edison popularized "hello," it doesn't directly identify who first uttered "hi." We know that "hello" needed the telephone to come into common use, and "hi" is a subsequent shortened form of "hello". Therefore, we can only make an inference, with reasonable certainty, that someone first shortened "hello" to "hi" after "hello" became a common greeting. Based on this, the answer is not present in the provided reference material. Instead, we can determine that:
- Thomas Edison is credited with popularizing the use of "hello", not "hi".
- Before the telephone, "hello" was not in common usage.
- "Hi" is a shortened form of "hello."
| Person | First Said | Relation to "hi" |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas Edison | "hello" | Popularized |
Therefore, while Thomas Edison made "hello" popular, the provided references do not state who first said "hi". It would have been someone after "hello" became common.
