¿Cómo estás? Estoy bien gracias - mentira!

Question

In English, in response to this question we very rarely say "Estoy mal". We have responses like; mustn't grumble - not too bad - I have been worse - could be better - so-so - etc,,,,,

What expressions can you use in Spanish that lie between Mal and Bien?

¿Cómo estás? : La verdad, estoy más o menos Is that acceptable for example?

Answer 1

Hola FRancis

Bueno, se puede decir esto:

No muy bien, la verdad...

voy tirando....

No me puedo quejar....

He estado mejor.....

Pues...¿qué quieres que te diga?...

Pues..¿para qué hablar?.....

En fin, hay muchas fórmulas, espero que no tengas que usar ninguna

Exactly what I wanted. Thanks. - 00515f39, NOV 13, 2009

Answer 2

A way to say you are not good, is to say "Quieres que te cuente?" We use this in Argentina and it literally means "do you want me to tell you?", as a way of saying "you don't want to know. It will be a list of bad things." Usually used between friends.

Answer 3

regular, asi asi, estupendo.

Answer 4

¿Cuál es la frase por "tengo un pie en la tumba"?, la que es como suelo sentir.

tengo un pie en la tumba? with a foot on the grave? That's when you're really sick or when you refer to someone very sick... as in death-threatening situation, enough to say you're a foot away from your own grave. - zenejero, NOV 16, 2009

Actually it is "to have one foot in the grave" like you're in the process of stepping in. At death's door. It's a common hyperbolie for "I'm feeling miserable". - 0074b507, NOV 16, 2009

Answer 5

You can also say "más o menos" when meaning "so-so". Extremely used in Southamerica!

Answer 6

Another response in English is "(I) Can´t complain."

Much like Spanish, I have noticed, at least in this area, that we drop the initial subject when giving responses to questions even though we don't have the verb tense to clarify it.

sorry, webdunce, didn´t see you had that in there already...guess it's time to take a break. - aloshek, NOV 13, 2009

Answer 7

In English, there is also fair-to-middlin´ (It ends in a g, but people who use this phrase would never pronounce the g on a word that ends in -ing...at least not in the States)

It means: not too bad, not too great; can´t complain; so-so; etc.

Interesting...I've never heard that one. - --Mariana--, NOV 13, 2009

Think Southeastern USA, we use it all the time here. - webdunce, NOV 13, 2009

I like it! - --Mariana--, NOV 13, 2009

We use it up in the north woods, too! - aloshek, NOV 13, 2009

Answer 8

"dos, tres" always makes people smile. (Used often in Mexico.)

Answer 9

Or you could say 'gracias a dios' or 'bien, gracias a dios'

Answer 10

Being mindfull that I am not as fit as I used to be and that I am not too bad for my age I normally say bastante bien gracias.

Answer 11

I think that there are as many books that say to use ,asi-asi for a response to ¿como estás ? as there are native speakers who don''t know what it means. I use mas o menos or regular.

Answer 12

Can you say 'así así' for 'so so'?

yes:) - 00494d19, NOV 13, 2009

Answer 13

Hóla cómo estás?--------------------------Regular