How Do You................

[ozzy72]

Quite possibly Bj

[Hagar]

I thought we were talking regional variations here. For example, when I visited the Austrian Tyrol the traditional greeting was "Gruss Gott" - literally translated as "Great God". The traditional English formal greeting is "How do you do". It's not a question & the expected response is the same - "How do you do". This is usually abbreviated to " 'Ow do" in my part of the country.

Other regional variations are
Liverpool (Scouse): "Orlright der, la." (All right there lad.)
Newcastle (Geordie): "Alreet" response "Whey Aye, Man". (Man is masculine or feminine.)
Yorkshire: "Hey Oop Lad".
Birmingham (Brummie): The universal Brummie greeting, "Or-roight" (all right).
Spoken with a rising tone it means, "How are you?"
With a descending tone it means, "I'm very well thank you, and how are you?"
With a clipped, growling tone, (usually accompanied by a furrowed brow and an aggressive manner) it means: "Do you want a fight?"

I found this amusing article on some of the difficulties understanding different regional dialects.

Brummie accent? Is it 'eck-as-like!

By Ben Hurst, Evening Mail

"Eeeh ba gum! Will all t'folk from flight 236 from Paris get tha skates on to baggage area four or thou'll not find thi' suitcase."

That is the unlikely greeting to arrivals at Birmingham International Airport hoping to collect their baggage from the carousel.

But the flat Yorkshire vowels of the recorded message have caused an outcry among incoming passengers.

People heading to the carousel for their luggage thought they had landed at Leeds/Bradford Airport by mistake.

The broad accent today led to calls for a local voice to be used.

After the Evening Mail got in touch, airport bosses pledged to see if the automatic system could be reprogrammed to speak Brummie.

Local historian Dr Carl Chinn said: "They should definitely be greeted by the voice of someone coming from the region.

"It is not good that someone arriving at Birmingham Airport should hear a Yorkshire accent straight away.

"Someone coming from Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire or Birmingham should be used."

Dr Chinn added: "I wouldn't want to be put forward for the job - they should use someone who works at the airport." A spokeswoman for Birmingham International Airport said engineers were looking into "Brummifying" the machine.

"The message is something that is built into the system.

"When the machine is started up to start moving the luggage out, it just automatically plays it over the PA system.

"It is not as if we have chosen simply that a Yorkshire accent would be best - it is just the one on the machine.

"We are looking at it to see if it can be changed, and it is a case of looking through the manuals."

The Brummie accent has come under much criticism, frequently topping polls of the least popular in the country.

[Paz]

"Yo"

[Fozzer]

Whenever one of my Step-sons pops round to see me, he says...
"Hi! What you been up to then..."?
..like if just robbed a bank, shot my next-door neighbours barkin' dog, shot my next-door neighbour, impregnated my next-door neighbours wife, mowed my lawn, been shopping, etc,...?
In actual fact, I haven't done anything really exciting since the last time I saw him... ..!
So I say to him..."Nuffin' much..."... ...!

LOL...!

Paul... ...!

P.S. I much prefer.."Hello Paul! Give me a cuddle! How are you? Lovely to see you! You are looking well...!"... ...!

[Hagar]

P.S. I much prefer.."Hello Paul! Give me a cuddle! How are you? Lovely to see you! You are looking well...!"... ...!

LOL Foz. This reminds me of the old Stanley Holloway classic. "MY WORD, YOU DO LOOK QUEER". http://www.monologues.co.uk/You_Do_Look_Queer.htm

"Queer" meaning strange or unwell before you make any comments. I know what you're like.

I've found from experience that telling someone they look well (even if they look like death warmed up) makes all the difference.

[Fozzer]

LOL Foz. ;D
I've found from experience that telling someone they look well (even if they look like death warmed up) makes all the difference. ;)

Hi Doug...!
This is what it says it all, to our Hagar...>>>

You lucky devil!

P.S. I didn't know you were like 60, after reading your posts I thought you were thirtyish.

It adds 30+ years to your life expectancy.... ...!
...I love it... ...!
It does in my case, 70+30 + 100, so watch out, you lot... ...!

LOL...!

Cheers Doug... ...!

Paul.

[Scottler]

In the real world it's "Como Esta".

Except that "esta" is the conjugation of "estar", or "to be".

"Esta" would be correct if you were asking "How is he?" or "How is she?"

But the proper conjugation of "estar" when asking "How are YOU?" would be "estas", making the correct sentence "Como estas?"

[Tequila Sunrise]

Scotland: Mon en, closely followed by a demonstration of the scottish form of martial arts: F*** U  8)

[eno]

Here in deepest darkest Derbyshire ...... the traditional greeting is

AYUP MEDUCK

Roughly translated as AYE UP MY DUCK.

Ive just asked the wife (born and bread in these parts) if she knows where it comes from and she aint got a clue  ::)