http://chronicle.com/img/photos/biz/icons/lingua-franca-nameplate.pngBy Allan Metcalf. Hey, gentle reader. I have a little something for you today. No eureka moments, just an observation: 
In the United States, “hey” is gradually taking the place of “hi” in friendly greetings—whether in person or online. 
I don’t mean the “hey” of “Hey, you! Yes, you!” that we use to attract someone’s attention. We’ve always had that. This is the “hey” or “hi” we say when we recognize a friend or acquaintance coming to meet us, or when we start an email. 
“Hi, Sam, how’s it going?” That sort of thing.Now it happens that this “hey” is originally a Southernism. That was the situation in the late 1960s when the Dictionary of American Regional English sent interviewers to a thousand communities around the nation, asking (among 1,846 other questions) how locals would greet somebody they knew well. Read more...