why do we say 'how do you do?'? 'how do i do what exactly' has become my response.... it's mostly confusing.

Question

'how are you?' would make alot more sense............ i'm assuming 'how do you do' most be a shortened version of something else......maybe.......... ?

Answer 1

I always thought that was a little weird too. If you look up the word "do" in the dictionary you'll find that it has a ton of meanings. One of the meanings of do is "fare" so its like saying "how do you fare?" which makes more sense. "How are you doing?" seems strange to me too but I say it all of the time.

Answer 2

Some connection here with the french language I think, probably going back to when England was mainly french speaking. As from the old expression "fare ye well" for example, fare must relate to the french word "faire" which means to do so there is not much of a leap to exchange "faire" or "fare" to "do" then you could get "do you well" so "how do you do" is again not to much of a leap ?

Answer 3

'How do you do' is not a question inquiring as to an individual's wellbeing, it is an idiomatic* phrase used exclusively upon meeting another person; therefore, it would be incorrect to replace it with 'how are you'. The correct response is 'how do you do'. It is an extremely formal way of saying 'nice to meet you'.

*An idiom is a set of specific words in a specific order, the meaning of which cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its component words.

Answer 4

Similar sayings are to be found in other languages, like in French, "ca va", meaning "how are you going?" We also say, "cheerio", for goodbye; indeed "goodbye" itself is in the same category Many sayings are corruptions and shortenings of longer phrases. See you !!

Answer 5

its an old- styleeh way of saying hows u?

it doesnt really make 100% sense, but then when does grammer ever really make sense?

Answer 6

When someone asks "how do you do", they are politely enquiring after your well-being (as if you didn't know). Smart-arsed answers will be regarded as an extremely rude.

Answer 7

"How do you do," is a formal way of saying, "Hello". The correct response is either "How do you do," or "Hello."

It is still used in the UK especially in very formal situations.

Answer 8

It used to be the right thing to say, but it's getting kinda obsolete, and I agree with you.

Answer 9

It means 'How are you doing?'. It's old speak. Incidently, the French say 'Ca va?', which literally means 'Does it go?', but is asking the question 'How goes it?', or 'How is it going?'.

Answer 10

That's just like someone walking up and asking "Have you found God?" No, I didn't realize he was missing!