Many languages do not use "How are you?" as a standard greeting. Mandarin speakers usually say "Ni hao," which word-for-word means "You good." It's not a question; the question form would be "Ni hao ma?", and is not used as a greeting at all.
My father, who spent a couple years in Thailand decades ago, says that the Thai phrase meaning "How are you?" was invented (or at least popularized) in response to Westerners' demand for such a phrase. Does anyone have any information supporting or undermining this?
My father, who spent a couple years in Thailand decades ago, says that the Thai phrase meaning "How are you?" was invented (or at least popularized) in response to Westerners' demand for such a phrase. Does anyone have any information supporting or undermining this?
My wife confirms that is the case for the Chinese phrase at least.
I've seen an article on LW about Santa Claus and most people were very keen on not lying to their kids (and I agree). I have a little kid who is generally quite truthful, innocent enough not to lie in most cases. I noticed recently that when someone asks him, "How are you", he usually answers in detail because, well, you asked, didn't you? When I was a teenager I hated people who lied and I tended to ignore these unwritten social rules to the extent I could. I.e. I didn't ask if I didn't want to know and people thought I was rude. So, my question is, should I teach him to lie upon these occasions?
More broadly, I was thinking, why am I committed to being truthful, in general? I guess because I would hate to be lied to myself. This is a kind of magical thinking maybe, or maybe it's a part of the social contract. This sort of lying in fact promotes the social well-being because to answer truthfully creates an unwelcome burden on my interlocutor who asked out of politeness and is not in truth interested. But it still feels wrong to lie. Even more wrong to teach your kid to do so.