Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: how are you doing?

Ciao,
sono tornato da poco dal mio viaggio di nozze in USA, e ho notato una 
cosa che non sapevo:
molto spesso, andando da una persona addetta a ricevere gente (ad 
esempio, alla cassa di un negozio, oppure nella hall di in hotel), 
questa introduce il discorso dicendo qualcosa tipo "how you doing" o 
"how are you doing".
Presumo che voglia sapere come stiamo, ma probabilmente è un modo di 
dire e quindi non si aspetta davvero una risposta.
Noi a volte non abbiamo risposto (soprattutto all'inizio che non avevamo 
ben capito cosa ci chiedesse), altre volte un veloce "Fine, thanks", e 
qualche volta addirittura "Fine, thanks, and you?"
Con quest'ultima nostra domanda, una volta una cassiera ci ha 
addirittura risposto "Thanks for asking, I'm fine", con una faccia che 
traspariva un po' di meraviglia (come se appunto fosse strano rispondere 
veramente e addirittura chiedere come sta lei)
E` quindi un modo di dire? In che situazioni si dice?
E` tipico solo degli USA?
Grazie
-- 
SigiTM
Togli 'NOSPAMMM' per rispondermi.
http://it.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=sigitm

 E` tipico solo degli USA?
Più che una domanda a cui rispondere, è un saluto come un altro, un po' 
come "What's up?", che è però più informale. Ecco perché hai colto di 
sorpresa la commessa quando le hai risposto.
Nel Regno Unito usano "Alright?" alla stessa maniera.

 sorpresa la commessa quando le hai risposto.
Quindi cosa si risponde? "Fine!"? O neanche?
ciao


 
You can answer with "Fine" or "Okay" or "Pretty good" or "Lousy" or "Not bad" 
or "Fair to middlin'" or "I've been better" or "Can't complain." There are 
sure to be others that just don't come to mind right now.
The point is, it's a greeting, not an inquiry as to your real health or 
well-being, so don't start relating how your back hurts or your feet are 
swollen or you have had a toothache for three weeks.
-- 
Joey from NY

 three weeks.
Quando andavo a scuola io ci insegnavano questa:
- How do you do?
- How do you do.
E finita lì.
-- 
"The root of all superstition is that men observe when a thing
hits, but not when it misses."
                -- Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

 three weeks.


 E finita lì.
"How do you do" si usa quando due persone si incontrano per la prima 
volta.

 swollen or you have had a toothache for three weeks.
lol, strange a bit though. What does that say about how Americans are 
interested in other people? :)
Dutch can ask the same question "Hoe gaat het, (met jou / u)?", but you 
can answer with all the illnesses you had the last 100 years :). It is 
not common to pose that question to a stranger though. Then you just 
shake hands and mention your name.
Italians start touching each other right away, no? lol.
When I first came to Italy, I had to get used to the "touching". I know 
now it means nothing but kindness, but it sure felt strange then. We 
Dutch are much more reserved and to not touch each other easily during 
a conversation.

):

But not in the US.
-- 
Joey from NY

 interested in other people? :)
It's just become a habit. If we were Chinese, we'd be asking "have you 
eaten?" instead of "how are you doing?" I wonder if one answered "No" in 
Chinese, would one be fed? Probably not. it's just one of the current ways of 
greeting one another.
-- 
Joey from NY

 It's just become a habit.
Why you didn't you write "it just became a habit"? or "it has just 
became a habit"?

 ha scritto nel messaggio 
news:4c41bd8d$0$12457$e4fe...@dreader15.news.xs4all.nl...

Because it's come/came/come :D
ciao, Janis 

 ciao, Janis
I know :)...maybe I should not translate it from Dutch then or I 
translate your sentence in a wrong way :)
Became is past tense, that is why I used it.
How would you translate the sentence in Italiano?

 How would you translate the sentence in Italiano?
Direi qualcosa come "E' recentemente diventata un'abitudine" oppure "E' 
un'abitudine recente".

):

First off, "it has just became" is incorrect. It would have to be "it has 
just become" (become is the past participle, not became.)
"it just became a habit" focuses on the act of becoming a habit at some point 
in the past. That's not what I intended.
"it's [it has] just become a habit" doesn't focus on the act of becoming a 
habit; it expresses a state of being that began at some point in the past and 
continues to today.
Oh, and the "just" in this context doesn't mean "recently." It means "only."
I hope that clarifies it.
-- 
Joey from NY

 continues to today.
and that is where it went wrong with me......
thanks for the clarification, teach.


In this particular case, how could we have distinguished between the two 
meanings?

):

Maybe not all that easily, but consider that if I meant "recently" I probably 
would have said "it just became a habit." If I were speaking that sentence, 
I'd probably stress "just."
That could also be taken to mean "all it did was become a habit [and nothing 
more.]"
Some of these nuances are indeterminable in written messages. A lot depends 
on inflection in speaking, gestures, shrugs, etc.
-- 
Joey from NY

 on inflection in speaking, gestures, shrugs, etc.
It is best if you add a video with it next time :)

):

Okay, but I usually get paid for videos... ;-)
-- 
Joey from NY

 Okay, but I usually get paid for videos... ;-)
We first have to determine the quality of the video before paying one 
dime.

):

...I'd accept a nickel..
-- 
Joey from NY

Joey from NY formulated on zondag :



how cheap.....

 on inflection in speaking, gestures, shrugs, etc.
That said, before translating in Italian, I should have given a second 
thought to your sentence. In fact, I first went to US in 1996 - which is 
not very recent, isn't it? - and I can clearly remember people asking me 
"How are you doing?".