How to respond to "What's up?"

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# x. O( c$ f- z3 F1 I/ e) tHow to respond to "How are you?", "What's up?", and other conversation starters

There are a few questions that English speakers ask at the beginning of a conversation. These questions are simple tools to find out if there are any interesting topics to discuss.
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You've certainly heard these questions, but you might be confused about how to answer. Here's a list of common answers to the questions "How are you?", "How's it going?", "What's up?", and "What's happening?"

How are you?
Fine.

  i0 w1 u$ S' H! c, s3 ^% X1 pThis is a simple, straight answer. If you don't say anything else, though, it might be a signal that you don't want to continue the conversation.
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4 v& J+ x  J' kNot bad.
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This is a more friendly-sounding answer than "fine".
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) U9 E" P# A6 ~% s& X. @8 gFine, thanks.
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/ w9 w1 H0 @1 v+ W1 R% ~This answer is formal. You might answer this way if someone you don't know, like a waiter at a restaurant, asks how you are.

" b, v2 u# Z2 k# J- ~Very well, thanks.
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- z, O! d) [' W5 D, r0 S' D: \0 k. yA person who likes to be grammatically proper might answer this way. Technically, the question "How...?" should be answered with an adverb. However, a lot of English speakers don't know or care about this. The people who do are "by the books" types who insist on using grammatically correct language.

Pretty good.

, x) c, H# p: x  n- |1 A) I$ iIf you don't care as much about grammar, you can answer "Good" or "Pretty good". It's more common and much, much more casual.
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Great! How are you doing?
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  {0 t$ F3 T# |  V/ `% N; bThis is an enthusiastic, excited response. It's always good to ask a question back to the other person if you want to continue the conversation.
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% r$ |4 u. q2 ]1 u* X1 `6 p: L, ~  nI'm hanging in there.

This answer makes it sound like you're having a tough day.
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I've been better.
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People usually give positive answers to the question "How are you?" If you give a negative answer like this one, it usually means that you want to tell the listener your sad story. So they'll usually ask what's wrong:

+ w0 t' z# s9 _8 R! ?% LA: How are you?
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B: I've been better.
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( D: a. m" T! x: o% JA: What's wrong?

B: I just found out that I'm being laid off.
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How's it going?
This question is similar to "How are you". The answers discussed above all work for "How's it going?" as well.
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Here's another answer that will also work for "How's it going", but not for "How are you?"
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4 s2 b% o* B" M1 T) DIt's going well.
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This is a friendly, polite answer that's suitable for coworkers, clients, and acquaintances that you haven't seen in a while.

# A( q$ A. ]: b' |" K- e: y) tWhat's up?
. }: O7 t. f; OThis question means "What's happening in your life?" But you don't have to answer honestly. If you don't want to start a long conversation, you can use one of these standard replies:
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Nothing much.
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  n  w4 k" R( m" [This is the most common answer. You can follow it by sharing something interesting that's happening: "Nothing much. Just getting ready for Vanessa's graduation."

/ l( M7 U: C0 a. f! w7 i2 zNot a lot.
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This is another really common answer. It's just a bit fresher than "Nothing much" because it's a little less common.

! c$ @3 g) G: \3 ]Nothing.
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6 k/ N6 c3 W, S  k4 l# J: _$ ~4 `This is more to-the-point. It might make you seem a little angry or rude.

Oh, just the usual.
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$ _  m, X. [+ ~Answer this way if you do mostly the same things each day.

/ h1 m' C9 |" Y  a* \Just the same old same old.

5 {5 J: T8 K1 M- f  D3 ?This phrase means that you're doing the same things every day, and you're a little bored of it.
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+ y, t" U7 l# J5 K( \Oh gosh, all kinds of stuff!

You can answer this way if your life has been really busy and exciting lately.

- j8 b2 @6 b9 e# A) P+ n0 qWhat's happening?
# u- D3 d! H' M+ P8 G0 cThis question means the same thing as "What's up" and can be answered in the same way.
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martins

我很烦有人这么打招呼，感觉是小流氓和黑人专用问候语，我一般都回应，“我操你妈”

恰似你的温柔

lol,,,,,,boooooo

pretty

martins 发表于 2015-11-2 21:55
我很烦有人这么打招呼，感觉是小流氓和黑人专用问候语，我一般都回应，“我操你妈”

! t! B4 E& k' U8 w不会吧？年轻人喜欢这么问候。真没觉得怎么啊？

白马啸西枫

Not much

白马啸西枫

Same O same O, same old shit on different hole