Meaning
Hello — the Patois pronunciation of 'hello' with the initial 'h' dropped, a common feature of Jamaican speech (which likewise says ''ouse' for house and ''ungry' for hungry). Used as an everyday greeting and to answer the telephone, ''ello?' is the plain, friendly hail. The dropped 'h' is a hallmark of the accent, and the word simply does the ordinary work of saying hello, in the h-less form that ordinary Jamaican speech gives so many English words beginning with that sound.
Examples
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Ello, how yuh do?
Hello, how do you do?
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She answer di phone: 'Ello?'
She answered the phone: 'Hello?'
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Ello deh, long time nuh see.
Hello there, long time no see.
Origin
The Patois pronunciation of 'hello' with the initial 'h' dropped — a common feature of the accent.
How it’s used
A greeting/phone answer. The dropped 'h' is characteristic (compare 'ungry', 'ouse'). See 'wagwan', 'howdy'.