The habit of asking “how are you” when one is not really interested in the answer is not a human universal; it’s a distinctly Western phenomenon.
You can see this pointed out, for example, in Brat 2 (although the scene in question also goes on to engage in some rather less-accurate anti-American stereotyping).
It accords with my own experiences in Russia, which are that you should not ask this unless you are ready to accept an earful.
That specific thing is not a human universal. But the general behavior is, as far as I know. There are always little lies one is supposed to say. E.g. “no, that woman is not as beautiful as you”, “he looks just like his dad”, “nice to meet you”, “please come again” (but I’ll never invite you). In Russian, in particular, the very act of greeting is often a lie, since it means “be healthy” and there is effectively no way to “greet” an enemy without wishing him well.
The exact phrase is specific to few languages, not universal in the West. The literal translation would work e.g. in Spanish or Serbian, not in French (there the equivalent “(comment) ça va” means “(how) does it go”, I am not sure how a Frenchman would interpret “comment es-tu”) or Polish (“jak sie masz” = “how do you have yourself”, direct “jak jesteś” would be ungrammatical). Each language usually has an arbitrary set of standard questions used for greeting, everything outside the set would likely be heard as genuine curiosity.
Personal experience: I have known that “how are you” and “how do you do” belong to this set for English, but somehow I was unaware of “how are you doing”. Last time I visited Britain some activist on the street tried to establish conversation with me using this phrase, which got extremely awkward when I responded by “sorry?” and after he repeated his greeting, I replied “what exactly do you want to know?”. He must have thought I was a moron.
In Chinese, “how are you?” (“ni zenmeyang?”) is used, but it’s relatively recent (most likely a western influence); previously “have you eaten?” (“ni chi fan le ma?”) was the standard phrase.
I am not sure how a Frenchman would interpret “comment es-tu”
The perpetrator would be suspected of being Canadian.
Many languages do not use “How are you?” as a standard greeting. Mandarin speakers usually say “Ni hao,” which word-for-word means “You good.” It’s not a question; the question form would be “Ni hao ma?”, and is not used as a greeting at all.
My father, who spent a couple years in Thailand decades ago, says that the Thai phrase meaning “How are you?” was invented (or at least popularized) in response to Westerners’ demand for such a phrase. Does anyone have any information supporting or undermining this?
My father, who spent a couple years in Thailand decades ago, says that the Thai phrase meaning “How are you?” was invented (or at least popularized) in response to Westerners’ demand for such a phrase. Does anyone have any information supporting or undermining this?
My wife confirms that is the case for the Chinese phrase at least.
That’s because the standard Russian greeting - здравствуйте - means “Be well!”, more or less, ” Как дела?”, another standard greeting, means “How are things”, the follow-up is usually “Xорошо”—“fine”, and the greeting formalities are done. “How are you” does not register as a standard greeting, but rather as a genuine enquiry about one’s condition.
The habit of asking “how are you” when one is not really interested in the answer is not a human universal; it’s a distinctly Western phenomenon.
You can see this pointed out, for example, in Brat 2 (although the scene in question also goes on to engage in some rather less-accurate anti-American stereotyping).
It accords with my own experiences in Russia, which are that you should not ask this unless you are ready to accept an earful.
That specific thing is not a human universal. But the general behavior is, as far as I know. There are always little lies one is supposed to say. E.g. “no, that woman is not as beautiful as you”, “he looks just like his dad”, “nice to meet you”, “please come again” (but I’ll never invite you). In Russian, in particular, the very act of greeting is often a lie, since it means “be healthy” and there is effectively no way to “greet” an enemy without wishing him well.
In Klingon (fiction alert) the nearest thing to “hello” is nuQneH, which literally means “what do you want?”
The exact phrase is specific to few languages, not universal in the West. The literal translation would work e.g. in Spanish or Serbian, not in French (there the equivalent “(comment) ça va” means “(how) does it go”, I am not sure how a Frenchman would interpret “comment es-tu”) or Polish (“jak sie masz” = “how do you have yourself”, direct “jak jesteś” would be ungrammatical). Each language usually has an arbitrary set of standard questions used for greeting, everything outside the set would likely be heard as genuine curiosity.
Personal experience: I have known that “how are you” and “how do you do” belong to this set for English, but somehow I was unaware of “how are you doing”. Last time I visited Britain some activist on the street tried to establish conversation with me using this phrase, which got extremely awkward when I responded by “sorry?” and after he repeated his greeting, I replied “what exactly do you want to know?”. He must have thought I was a moron.
In Chinese, “how are you?” (“ni zenmeyang?”) is used, but it’s relatively recent (most likely a western influence); previously “have you eaten?” (“ni chi fan le ma?”) was the standard phrase.
The perpetrator would be suspected of being Canadian.
Many languages do not use “How are you?” as a standard greeting. Mandarin speakers usually say “Ni hao,” which word-for-word means “You good.” It’s not a question; the question form would be “Ni hao ma?”, and is not used as a greeting at all.
My father, who spent a couple years in Thailand decades ago, says that the Thai phrase meaning “How are you?” was invented (or at least popularized) in response to Westerners’ demand for such a phrase. Does anyone have any information supporting or undermining this?
My wife confirms that is the case for the Chinese phrase at least.
That’s because the standard Russian greeting - здравствуйте - means “Be well!”, more or less, ” Как дела?”, another standard greeting, means “How are things”, the follow-up is usually “Xорошо”—“fine”, and the greeting formalities are done. “How are you” does not register as a standard greeting, but rather as a genuine enquiry about one’s condition.