They always pause when I ask, like they don't know how to answer the question or really have to think about it. But this definitely does happen when I am calling Scandinavians a lot. I try to avoid calling the Italians, French, and English if I can.
For most of Europe that kind of questions are mainly reserved for people you are close to, so asking something like that makes you look awkward in their eyes or even suspicious as if you are trying to warm up to them to manipulate them in some way.
How the hell do Europeans greet strangers on the phone?
"Hello, this is NiggerHater88, I'm calling from TND Inc. Have 5 minutes to talk?"
Hello this is Theodore_Kent from "organization". Am I speaking with "person you called"? Good. This is about "the issue at hand".
Right.
When we ask how are you, we don't expect a sincere answer. It's a simple greeting, not a real question.
Would "Good, and you?" be an acceptable answer?
Dang. Theo and I are Yankees. You guys would be so confused down south
In Mandarin the common greeting is "Ni hao." This literally means "You are good." If you ask how to say, "How are you?" it's, "Ni hao ma?" You end up saying, "You are good. Are you good?" Ultimately, you learn that they don't go around asking, "How are you?" If they ask that, then they really think something is wrong. Coincidentally, it is just the words "you" and "good" and works like asking, "You good?" Ma means your statement is a question and the same thing is accomplished in English with tone of voice or a ? on the end in writing.
Oh, I see. There's a lot of pleasantries which seem to be uniquely American. More so in the South. I assume this is what you're seeing.
A lot of European countries don't really have some of the small talk we do and are taken aback by it. Many in the NE believe it's the beginning of a scam, centering on Jew York City.
I miss the south sometimes. Theo and I are nearby in Pennsylvania (which I love), but it's crazy when you live in Mississippi for a bit, and come back. Reverse culture shock.
But us Pennsylvanias are very 50/50 on everything, from politics to being friendly or assholes... Must be our weather
My friend. Excuse me, my friend. My friend, I have a deal for you.
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