What's the right answer to "how are you?"

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That also confuses me, a simple "hi" I do often. Same goes even if I know the person and they respond with my name, which I can't even remember peoples names instintively

Took me until my 30's before I got it. I would always answer that question honestly. I'll still say 'I've been better, how about you?" if I'm not having a particularly good day. I consider it fair warning. Most people will choose to avoid you if you answer in the negative which, on a bad day, is a good thing.

Sorry, but it is too exhausting to walk around pretending all day, giving people smiles and 'I'm fine/good/super' if it's just not true.

It should be OK, to say something like 'having a tough time', if it's the case, too. As has been covered, best to start with a brief answer, they can ask more if they want. It does depend how well you know the person, though; if you know them well enough, you'll not need the advice here, however!

Depending on the situation, I might give a straight answer that nobody wants, but that's because I find "How are you?" to be an annoying and pointless question since there is an auto-answer "Fine, thanks", even if that's a bold-faced lie. I might say "tired, annoyed by your senseless question, and I have a defective aortic valve, and my hemorrhoids are itching right now, since you asked".

Charles

fine=hot
so when somebody asks you how you are doing, just say: i'm 6 feet above ground.
this shall let the other person know two things
A: your standing right infront of them
B: you are still alive, (so you must be alright.)

Today at college another student said something that sounded like 'wogwom' to me. I gave them a blank looked so they repeated it. A third person arrived and explained 'wogwom' means 'whats going on?' I was really confused by that point so said 'err nothing' and retreated to the sanctuary of the library. Is this another variation of the 'how are you?' type question?

No I'm not confusing sky with air.
First of all up is relative with no absolute direction. If I was drifting somewhere in outer space I could say up is anywhere or that there was no up.
The sky is the atmosphere, as seen from a given point on the Earth's surface. The sky just fades into the surface of the earth and becomes what you would call air. There is no defined line or elevation at witch the sky starts. And also the sky just extends into outer space as well. If you can tell me where up is in outer space I would be surprised.
The sky is also known as the celestial dome witch is an imaginary dome where the sun, stars, planets, and the moon are seen to be traveling. The celestial sphere is divided into regions called constellations. Usually, the term sky is used from the point of view of the Earth's surface.




YES!

Last edited by Ecl713 on 22 Mar 2012, 10:43 am, edited 2 times in total.

It is ok to say that if you are having a tough time.. its just that someone may ask "aww whats wrong" blah blah and ask you if you want to talk about it. And it will likely make them uncomfortable to hear.

Really, you can say whatever you want to this question but "Fine, thanks, and you?" is probably the easiest and simplest way to excahnge pleasantries without starting an actual conversation.. which is what I want.


I have NEVER heard of this. Where do you live? Perhaps it's regional? I'd probably stare at the person like they were insane if someone said that to me.

Where I live there is a regional question "What are you at?" and they usually slur it (like everything else they say here) so it sounds more like "Whaddyat?" which still kind of confuses me since I am new to this area. I believe it to translate loosely into "What's up.." or "What's going on?"

What you're missing here is the context of how and when the word "sky" is used. You will never, ever, hear someone use the word "sky" to describe the air at their level, i.e. in front, behind or to the side of them. So if you're stood on the ground, below you is earth, around you is air, and above you is sky.

That's backed up by the first of the dictionary definitions here: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/sky

Quote "The expanse of air over any given point on the earth".

The sky can, of course, be elsewhere too (for example stretching down to the horizon in the distance) but that doesn't mean the statement "The sky is up" is wrong, as they're not mutually exclusive facts, are they?

There are a few points I agree with you on. Such as I most definitely miss the context of how and when words are used such as sky.
However I have heard myself use the word "sky" to describe the air at my level and I think I'm someone.
Knowing that there is no definable point to where the sky starts. And knowing If it was possible to move in at strait line from any point on Earth's surface you would come into contact with the sky makes it extremely hard for me to except the relative direction of up as an acceptable answer.

my original point was "the sky is not just up."

Ok looking at this I see this debate about the words "up" and "sky" are a little off topic. Sorry.

I tried "I don't know." as an answer to "How are you?" and "Whats up?" a few times.
But that don't work because they always seem to say "What do you mean you don't know?"

"What's up" is even worse for me than "how are you". I never know if they are using it as a generic greeting or actually want information. I don't really know how to respond. At least with "how are you" I know they almost never really care.

"What's goin' down?" seems to work in rebuttal to "What's up".

It is quite possible that I misheard whatever it was, but the other student seemed to understand it ok. I have never heard it before despite being born and growing up in this town (south east england) I just don't understand the natives!

i do have a hard time with slang words and abbreviations or shortening of words. Confuses me too much. This week I found out that 'mac n cheese' actually meant macaroni cheese. I've been not choosing that for dinner for years because I didn't know what it was on the menu.

Ok, I'm at work and not too long ago someone asked me "How's it going?"

I froze for few seconds, I had no idea what to say. Finally I said "Fine thanks." because I remembered this thread.
I also froze partly because I thought "How's it going?" doesn't even really make scene to me.

Some thoughts I had.
I don't know how "it" can be going. And what is "it"?