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Comment by keiferski | Hacker News Reader

Non-Americans always harp on this yet don't understand that "How are you?" is just functioning as a generic "Hello" and not as a literal question. This happens in every language with various phrases.

For example, the phrase for "Hello" in most European languages directly translates to "Good Day." It is not as if people are saying "Good Day" in any literal sense of the words; the meaning implied is "Hello."

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>Non-Americans always harp on this yet don't understand that "How are you?" is just functioning as a generic "Hello" and not as a literal question. This happens in every language with various phrases.

We very much understand that.

Our problem/concern/issue is that you don't seem to expect/appreciate the outpour of how one has been in the first place, whereas elsewhere it's a natural part of meeting the other person...

That is, it's not like:

"'how are you?' just means hello, but we have another phrase to say if you want the other person to really tell you how they've been/feel when you meet them".

It's more like:

"Actually telling the other person how you've been/feel is discouraged, nobody cares that much for you, period".

"How's it going?" when used as a greeting, is typically only used in brief interactions, like passing someone in the hallway.

In a longer conversation, there are numerous phrases (including "How are you?") which, combined with the fact that the conversation is extended (i.e. you are both sitting at a table, or haven't seen each other in awhile) are universally assumed to mean that the person wants to know "how you are." It's a sort of game that one does subconsciously.

I can see how it appears to be nonsensical and random, but there is definitely a method to the madness, and I wouldn't say that American people care less about asking people how they are.

What really gets me every time (and I'm on a US trip right now) is that they say the words but expect no response. I'll walk into a store and the dialog goes:

- Hi, how are you? - I'm fine, how are y... - What can I get you?

They don't mean to cut me off, it's just obvious they mistimed my response. What my American friends do:

- Hi, how are you? - Hello, how are you? - What can I get you?

It's very odd to me how neither responds to the other's question, but it really is used as a generic greeting.

That is very odd to me as an American. Lots of these things are regional though.

"Hello"

"I've had a rough week, my dog died and I'm having trouble focusing at work. Hello to you, too."

For Chinese, "Ni Hao" literally means "you good", equivalent to "hello".

If you actually want to ask someone how they're going, the phrase is "Ni Hao Ma", which is literally the question: "you good?"

The question version isn't something you'd normally use. It might be appropriate on meeting a friend if you knew they'd been recently ill.

With the difference that “Good Day” is something you wish uppon others while “How are you?” is a question that also exists outside of the smalltalk context.

You can ask “How are you?” with genuine interest and get a genuine answer in the right context.

These things are complicated though. I’m a kiwi and on moving to the UK it took ages to figure out that “alright?” meant “hello”, not “what’s wrong?”

Where I live (a corner of Ireland) people say "Well?" for hello. I think it's short for "Are you well?"

This was brought up in some sales training I once had. Basically the instructor suggested not using the phrase when you don’t really want an answer, ie most business contexts.

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