-1

Louis Armstrong sings in What a Wonderful World

I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do

Why (or when) would friends use how do you do as it is supposed to be a formal answer to an introduction?

WoJ
  • 440
  • What a Wonderful World is fifty years old this year. A lot has changed in that time. – Andrew Leach Aug 18 '17 at 16:55
  • @AndrewLeach this was one of the things I thought about and was wondering whether the meaning and usage changed – WoJ Aug 18 '17 at 16:57
  • << I see friends shaking hands saying hi there >> (a 'pseudo-quotative' structure!) might be the modern translation. But I far prefer the original. And I'm sure I'm not alone. – Edwin Ashworth Aug 18 '17 at 16:59
  • @EdwinAshworthed I of course understand what the sentence means, but was wondering how the expression which today is uber formal could be used in the "hello" meaning. Was that because of changes in the meaning? Purely out of aesthetics in the song disregarding the formal nature? – WoJ Aug 18 '17 at 17:03
  • 3
    "Saying how do you do" is simply an idiomatic way to say "greeting each other". – Hot Licks Aug 18 '17 at 17:16
  • 2
    (Think about what 'How do you do?" means. It is just another way to say "How are you doing?") – Hot Licks Aug 18 '17 at 17:17
  • 1
    @Hot Licks: Exactly (your first comment). Someone might say "There's my priest! Let's go over and say hi to him", even if she wouldn't dream of actually greeting him with an informal usage like that. It's just an idiom that doesn't necessarily imply the specific greeting would be used verbatim. – FumbleFingers Aug 18 '17 at 17:33
  • Ok, so what I get from the comments is that all the emphasis on the formality of "how do you do" is actually overstated and that this would be an appropriate expression between friends? (I am surprised because as a non native speaker, I have always been told to never use this expression in the context of friends and only as a very formal answer to an introduction - and a search on internet agrees. I was more inclined to think that the meaning has changed over the years) – WoJ Aug 18 '17 at 17:38
  • @WoJ - It's not so much that literally saying "how do you do" is a common thing between friends. Rather, the phrase "saying how do you do" is an idiomatic way to describe people greeting each other. – Hot Licks Aug 18 '17 at 17:44
  • @HotLicksho thank you, now I understand (also your first comment). If you would not mind turning this into an answer I would gladly accept it. – WoJ Aug 18 '17 at 17:47
  • 1
    Possible duplicate of Do you really answer "How do you do?" with "How do you do?" – Arm the good guys in America Aug 18 '17 at 19:12

1 Answers1

3

The literal use of "How do you do?" to greet someone has been basically limited to the first meeting between strangers for the past 50 years that I know of. It's not really that "formal" in the sense that it wouldn't be used when meeting a friend of your buddy in a bar, but it's not normally used as a greeting between friends, or even acquaintances.

However, the expression "saying how do you do" is an idiomatic way to refer to people greeting each other. It's not that the words are literally said between the greeting parties, but rather someone in a group might say "I'll talk too you later, after I get my how-do-you-dos out of the way," or something similar.

Hot Licks
  • 27,508