ahoy hoy

In the beginning days of the telephone 'Ahoy hoy' was the standard greeting when one answered the phone. It was later replaced by 'hello' and then 'who dis?'. Mr Burns revived this old greeting in the Simpsons.

Ahoy hoy was previously a term to greet or get the attention of small sloop-rigged coasting ship or a heavy barge used for freight.

Ahoy = Hello (in Dutch)
Hoy = A small sloop-rigged coasting ship or a heavy barge used for freight

In the 1870's, inventor and Scottish born Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Bell's preferred salutation, Ahoy-hoy was derived from the nautical term above.

It really gained popularity when Mr. Burns used it on the Simpsons a few seasons ago, but the internet has adapted it for use as a common greeting. It's commonly spelled Ahoi hoi online.

Standard response to ahoy

An ancient expression used principally by Mr. Burns on the Simpsons. The greeting originated as a mix between "Hello" and "Yoo-hoo!" in the monasteries of Scandanavia, when the Catholic priests would see a young boy outside the walls.

Ahoy hoy is the way we used to answer the telephone in early days. It was replaced with hello which way the old way of a sign of surprise because Alexander Graham Bell answered the telephone that way because he was full so surprise.