thank you kindly =D  this is exactly what I was looking for.

Thank you juggler, 
   I looked up hello in dictionary.com, but didn't find anything about
hungary. Of course I'm always skeptical that word roots get do credit
if they come from languages not along english's primary roots (french,
german etc..). But the overriding fact that Hungarians Szia and
Szervusz is proof enough to me that they might have adopted a similar
usage for "hello".

The Urban legend part was really all I needed for proof of it's
improbability. The Usenet message about it being a hungarian tradition
was something along what I was looking for.  I forgot to mention that
as the story was told to me, Edison was looking for a word to answer
the phone, and Tesla reccomended they use the word Hallo to answer the
phone. Anyways, I think it is sufficient proof that this is a question
that has an answer that let's you believe whatever you want :-) I for
one now can put it up into the improbable urban legends. Thanks for
your help. Best, Bill Gould

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right on target!

oy!  now how did you find it from THAT spelling??  and can I bill the
doc for the extra syllable and cost of this question? lawd, those
bozos are gonna be the death of granny!  they send her on a million
wild goose chases a day.  this one was important to have resolution on
and you nailed it, cookie!  thanks a sugarbowlful, doll, and I'll
catch up to your other helpings ASAP.

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Fast, timely, I have been searching, to no avail, on the web for a few
days looking for this answer.  Good Job!

Go Bears!  Good stuff, thanks!!

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great! no problems with viewing... couldn't have asked for more.

The answer was straight to my question. Thanks

The answer was exactly what I wanted, Thank you.

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o lawd, granny was parsing that word all wrong.  she was workin' from
the
-withal side ... http://www.bartleby.com/61/17/W0191700.html  I think
that might've also been how the withalball got started.  thanks for
e-lucidatin' me, baby doll.

FYI, granny is *always* seated and medicated.

not a Chaucer fan,
GB

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nice

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Clearly a five star answer!! Great summation, comprehensive sourses!!

Hello juggler:
Thank you for the excellent research.
Your information will keep me busy for some time.
Thanks again,
Clicker5

Just what I needed!

Top-notch answer.  My friend was approached to put some money into the
company.  But much of their story doesn't "add up" to what you found. 
I appreciate the work.  ron

This was the answer I was searching for.  Thank you for you for being
so thorough and so prompt.

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The LOC sites would have merited my satisfaction. To go the extra mile
and include links to purchase each item turned this answer into a
great one. Thank you.

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Brilliant!  Having read the provided links, I am confident this is the
answer to the nostalgic conundrum which has bothered me off and on for
so many years.

I had forgotten about the implications of the computer's attempted
suicide, but am glad that the details I could remember apparently
helped lead to the correct answer.

The research time and mental anguish saved (for me) is certainly worth
more than the offered compensation.  Excellent work!

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Good answers, prompt reply. Thanks!

I've been going NUTS trying to find it, using all of the keywords I
could think of on various search sites. I came up with excellent
non-fiction books that describe similarly named women and
circumstances ... wow. Thank you very very much.

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Thank you! I was stunned to receive an answer so quickly.
I should have submitted this question two days ago when I first
started obsessing about it - I could have saved myself a lot of
frustration. I'll know next time!

Thanks, perfect answer.  First time trying this cool service.  Google's great!

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Excellent!  Perfect answer!  You guys rock!

Great!  Just what I needed, thanks a ton.  Happy Holidays!!

Brilliant! Very quick

The researcher helped me pass the barrier of Zenith.com and gave me
the lead to download the entire booklet for additional information
later.  Thanks.

Thank you so much