This may be a bit off-topic (and off-language) but... does anybody know the correct way to spell an old english greeting? It sounds like "wess thuu hall" and my guess is "wes thu hal" but I really have no idea. I belive that it means "be you healthy" or something similar. Any takers?

I believe it comes from Middle(?) English wæs hæil: "wassail" but I can't remember the correct pronoun form in between. Surely jheem or Faldage or one of our other resident scholars will give you the real scoop. Been too long since I studied OE and ME.

I believe the standard spelling is: wæs ðú hál. The accents could optionally be macrons, indicating length.

Wassail is thought to be from Old Norse ves heill similar in meaning to the Old English and definitely cognate.

CASD offers wes ðu hál, hál westu, and hál béo ðu. As in nuncle's examples, the accents agues are meant to represent macrons. Also ð and þ are pretty much interchangeable in OE depending on dialect, time and prevailing winds.

http://penguin.pearson.swarthmore.edu/~scrist1/scanned_books/png/oe_clarkhall/b0144.png

wæs ~ wes ~ béo

Ah, me memory ain't what it used to be ...