How do you do? - a question for English native speakers
Lord Darlington: How do you do, Lady Windermere?
Lady Windermere: How do you do, Lord Darlington?
It means pleased to meet you, nice to meet you, a conventional greeting used mostly after being introduced to someone
Although it is a question, it requires no reply, only its repetition.
And it doesn't mean How are you? or How are you doing? or How goes it? or How's it going? or How are things?...
All clear.
My question is - Does anyone really use this phrase anymore?
The only people (rare ones!) I've heard use it were non-native speakers - obviously taught this way at school.
I know it's formal, but still...
One more thing, what's the most formal way to say pleased to meet you in Spanish?
Thanks!
18 Answers
When I was in business environments in New York, I used it and others used it often.
It is a very polite and appropriate greeting for someone you are just being introduced to.
And you are right, as with most greetings that have become rote over time, no one actually expects you to answer "how you are doing".
It is also a much more neutral expression than "pleased to meet you", in case you are not that really pleased to meet the person!
You will never hear it, unless you're talking to royalty or really formal situations. It makes me think of stuffy British people.
I mean the example sentence makes it clear who uses that phrase.
It's used a lot around here. Texas. We are very polite.
What is wrong with " G'day, ow your goin mate , avin a good one are ya?"
Nice day for it, slongasitdonrain.
Mind you we didn't invent the flaming language , just improved on it a tad.
I've lived in northwest Florida all my life, and I'm apt to use it from time to time. And, if asked it, I will tend to respond as though you had asked "How are you?" or "How are you doing?" (I'll probably say, "Oh, fine, and you?" or similar.) It still gets used from time to time around here, I'd say, but its use does seem quite on the decline...having been supplanted by more refined greetings like, "Waassuuupp?"
"How do you do?" is just one of seemingly hundreds of little how-are-you type greeting phrases English has (around here). English has variety, if nothing else.
If someone said "how do you do?" to me I would say "How do you do what?" well seriously I know it is common speak amongst many of us English speakers and up in the north of England it is shortened to "how do" and said this way it is just a form of acknowledgment to a fellow being in passing anyway Johnny Cash said it "My name is Sue how do you do"
The only time I ever hear "How do you do?" is on old movies and tv shows or if someone's joking around.
It's similar to "How are you?" in the fact that it's not actually necessary to answer it (other than just repeating the phrase) but it's just old-fashioned.
OK fellow Americans, if you were introduced to the president of the United States and he held out his hand to shake hands, I bet every last one of you would say "How do you do" It is formal, it is safe and it is polite.
En espanol, "Mucho gusto." En Los Estados Unidos, "Pleased to me you." Or a shorter version, "A pleasure!"
In commontongue English, "How do you do?" should be answered, "I do well, thank you." (The Last Starfighter) My advice, from a common ol' American, is: Speak from the heart. "Hi, (Hola!)" "Howya doin'" "Como esta?" Broken down, it's all about: "Let's be friends, okay?" Sounds stupid, but it's all about feeling each other out so that we're not fighting each other. Historically, the left hand was named by the Romans the "sinistre", because as you gripped the right (sword) hand of the other in greeting, you grabbed your dagger by the left and stabbed him. So just inquire about the well-being of the other and don't try to kill him.
I'm American and I've heard it a few times but it is extremely rare. I agree that it sounds like something I would expect from a British person, although I'm not exactly sure if they use it. It sounds formal but in my experience it's only used informally. My friends jokingly use it but only because it sounds to weird. I think that is often the main reason how/why most people still say it.
I'm a native New Englander and I hear it and have said it myself depending on the circumstance. True, it is very formal but sometimes the need for formality is there.
It means pleased to meet you, nice to meet you, a conventional greeting used mostly after being introduced to someone
Don't be mislead, it doesn't mean pleased to meet you, it is just another way of expressing it, sort of like me gustar and I like.
I think that I do (occasionally) say "How do you do" when I first meet someone (which I do all the time in business situations, meet new people, that is) -- But I run the words together in speech.
What I actually say probably does not sound like "How do you do" as written. I am sure I never think of what the words actually mean....it's just a greeting.
ps, I am often meeting non-native English speakers....
I never say, "How do you do?". I usually say, "Glad/Pleased/Nice to meet you."
I have heard, "How do you do?" sometimes. It is used when you first meet someone. It is like, "How are you?, but maybe a little more formal. It's really something that you don't think about. It just comes out--with a "Nice to meet you" reply.
We don't say 'How do you do' in the circles I move in! (East of England)
I can just about imagine someone much older and quite formal saying it to me on a first introduction. I would answer with 'I'm well thank you, and you?'
'Pleased to meet you' would be more common, and absolutely acceptable wherever you go.
Even 'Good morning' 'good evening' and 'good night' have mostly been superceded by 'hello' or 'hi', however I tend to use them when greeting older people because they use them, and I still think they are rather nice.
Very informal greetings around here are:
'Yorite?' - a much condensed form of 'Are you alright?'
and even :
'Ite'? - as above but even shorter.
'Hi, how's it going?'
occasionally I'll hear:
'Whatcha'upto?' - What are you up to? (What are you doing?)
