I had an acquaintance in University who apparently had no knowledge of the expression "hello". She would pass you in the corridor and say "how are you?", and instead of smiling politely you'd have to find a response. Sometimes life is too short for conversations.
I hate "I'm fine" as a response, but saying anything else in the UK (let alone anywhere else) is considered bad form, of course. When I'm feeling anything but fine I'd like to express myself as such, but I tend not to.
In Welsh you get people saying things like "dal i gredu" ("[I]'m still believing"), presumably in God or some benevolent Fate. That's quite annoying, because it's rather evasive, but at least it's reasonably 'Welsh'.
Still, top hatred marks go to "Mustn't grumble" ("fedra i'm cwyno"!), which almost always means the exact opposite.
I think the most interesting thing discourse-pragmatically-speaking about "how are you?" questions is that generally it's a question that expects an answer (so it's not exactly rhetorical) but not a truthful one. If I ask it of someone, I don't expect a life story. That's why I prefer "hello" forms, which are just greetings.
Looking at all the above, I've come to the firm conclusion that I'm a surly bastard. Apols.
You are a surly bastard, but that wasn't the question.
I always say "I'm fine." How I'm actually feeling doesn't matter, but recently a friend of mine said that I'm never fine. When I say "I'm fine," I'm always something else; something negative. If I'm actually fine, I'll use other descriptors like okay, great, good, etc.
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I hate "I'm fine" as a response, but saying anything else in the UK (let alone anywhere else) is considered bad form, of course. When I'm feeling anything but fine I'd like to express myself as such, but I tend not to.
In Welsh you get people saying things like "dal i gredu" ("[I]'m still believing"), presumably in God or some benevolent Fate. That's quite annoying, because it's rather evasive, but at least it's reasonably 'Welsh'.
Still, top hatred marks go to "Mustn't grumble" ("fedra i'm cwyno"!), which almost always means the exact opposite.
I think the most interesting thing discourse-pragmatically-speaking about "how are you?" questions is that generally it's a question that expects an answer (so it's not exactly rhetorical) but not a truthful one. If I ask it of someone, I don't expect a life story. That's why I prefer "hello" forms, which are just greetings.
Looking at all the above, I've come to the firm conclusion that I'm a surly bastard. Apols.
no subject
I always say "I'm fine." How I'm actually feeling doesn't matter, but recently a friend of mine said that I'm never fine. When I say "I'm fine," I'm always something else; something negative. If I'm actually fine, I'll use other descriptors like okay, great, good, etc.
I think my father used to say, "still kicking."
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(- they would know you are an american?;-)