New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-11-09
HOW DO YOU DO?
-.,uIIAR GREETING WHICH HAS
.,r TO BE A HOLLOW MocKERY.


oren been pointed out somewhat fanci-
--.-baDs that the modes of greeting current
gr.,snt countries are sometimes nationally or
o.. Characteristic, says The London Globe
-s.ariard or the Italian says How do YOU
=, mich may be referred either TO stateli-
pN iaziness. The Frenchman. careful OF de-
snt asks. How DO you carry yourself?" The
/ svan fond of the table. saiutes you with
.'-ou eat = hearty dinnert'' while the English
/ me man of action. says How do yousdo?'
| p markedly characteristic are some of the
| i,snt phrases used among non-European peo-
&" me peasant of Southern China, for instance,
! p ,sDderly. Have you eaten your rice?' and
S-sro they inquire sympathetically. How do
sETe15rish How do you do?" Is A direct trans
~ Of the meaiasHad FPenen form OF greeting,
mo common use toward the END OF the sew
| S..th century Curiously enough, its general
= out of the old mode Of greeting ladies'. which
7. ssmphatieally known as salutins. and which
- 10 modern ideas so extraordinarily familiar
~ 1timate-that Is. by kissing. Englishmen are
* All the more efusive methods OF salutation.
Easalv between men, common on the Continent;
y IN centuries England was the land OF kisses.
n ~. man greeted a woman whether il was for
est or the hundredth time. he kissed her.
ssg,sr alludes to the custom as existing in his
y '-stress Of the house enters the room where
,5d her husband are sitting together
A4seth UP full curtisly.
Ia
"a sisseth hire sNete, and chirketh as sparWe
tsh his lippes'
rvo hundred years later, Erasmus, in one OF his
so5ic letters from England. wrote very appre-
tsssvsy Of the custom. IF you so TO any place."
ss,.Is his correspondent with reference 10 Eng
aides you are received with kiss by all;
s,,g depart on a journey you are dismissed with
tiss. you return kisses are exchanged. They
- 70 visit you, kiss the first thing; they leave
I r0u kiss them all round. Do they meet YOU
There kisses in abundance II was no wonder
n Erasmus told his friend that if he had once
r-si Eish not 10 reside here for ten years only,
! Ia life"
- n less through the seventeenth century and
n he eighteenth; but occasionally there were
ssr Astounding" and other serious writer's fol-
NJ lis lead Like other fashions IL died out
-ssly. hrst among the quality, as society
srsTere then called in town, and later among
CT folk. ia the Spectator for December 3,
n here is an amusing letter from a country
g.snsn greatly perturbed by the behavior Of a
~ exquisite from London. The worthy squire
IA on his own estate, was hospitabe. and ac-
ring 10 ms own dccouht was ever reckonsa
t1g the ladies the best company II the world
nsTer came IN publick" he continued. but I
md where il was seen how genteely l avoided
trpsring my spurs in their petticoats while
lsi among them; and on the other side how pref
Il they curtsied and received me, standing in
t7g rows, and advancing as fast as they saw
lE elders, or their betters, dispatched by me.
n good evidently kissed every lady in the
In But change came over his neighbors and
fter or town gentleman" This beau. fresh
x the fashionable circles OF London. instead OF
E1g The ladies' IN the hearty old English way,
I,y bowed profoundly TO each IL turn: and with
i grace and assurance was this done that he
/ al hearts. and Kissing at once went out Os
ltm There is no young gentleWOman." la
rs the poor squire, within several miles OF this
III has been kissed ever since his first appear
X among VI" From all this il IS clear that in
days Of Queen Anne the once universal mode
/ shutting a lady was no longer fashionable in
l71 and Was nearing its end in the country
lhs excessively familiar sslutation was succeeded
i b0ES and curtsies OF great dignity and alarm
1Tf
mi back The reign Of famiiisritv in another
RI in the somewhat casual and offhand How
you do which, nine times out of ten, implies
interest whatever in the health OF the person
dressed, but is simply a meaningless formula OF
betting. The stil more meaningless Good morn
Il IS Of later date than How DO you do?'' The
EHsr forms. which long preceded the latter
base. were Good morn" and Good morrow"
La both date from :he fourteenth century. The
iagh the poets have a weakness for il.
The speckled thrush
Good morrow gave from brake and bush'
b Scott in the Lady of the Lake: and Long
ha villagers q Acsdian Grand Pre-. says:
] zgs glad good-morrow and jocund laugh from
the light afr lighter.
,5ther old elliptical form Of greeting now long
ste, was Good time OF day In Richard
Hastings salutes the Duke OF Gloster with
Z Was too cumbrous form or salutauon TO
- much hesdway;
y
many hurried speakers. and gets abbreviated
How de do" and the like absurdities Other
rants are such phrases : How are you?' and
Nv goes ft?' The latter Is q literal equivalent
{ he German form OF How do YOU dog" and
3 OF the common French sautation Comment
lH.t-il?" In some rural parts OF England How
y it," is shortened into How goa" Another
ltaton phrase which is regarded as col
Cial. II not vulgar. but vas formerly in respect
Z literary use is What cheer?" 'Heere Mas
|. what cheere2' cries the boatswain in the
ming scene Of the Tempest and the greeting
h IN use q century and a half before Shake
ares day Colloquial phrases are continually
isrgoinC change and modification: and so How
I you do2" itself may some day be regarded as
hslegslV vulgar while some other form OF salu-
lion is frequent in the mouths OF those who re-
~ both theInselv and the language.