I just received a telephone call: “Hello?” “Hi, how are you doing?” “I’m doing very well, how are you doing?” “Hi, Bill, it’s Cora. Just calling to remind you that you have an appointment next Monday.” “Okay, it’s on the calendar. I’ll be there.” “Okay, see you then.” “Bye.” “Bye.” In rural Nova Scotia, it’s common to pick up the phone and have someone ask, “How are you?” The polite thing to do is respond in kind. Then introductions are made and the call proceeds. Complete strangers will ask you how you are before they introduce themselves. Are there idiosyncratic customs that you have come across? Where did they occur?
That puts me straight on the defensive I think it's common to more than just Canada. I wouldn't say the following is a custom, more an idiosyncrasy local to these parts (N. West UK). "Hello?" "Alright our kid, how are you doing?" "O.....kay. What is it you want?" "Will you borrow me a tenner? My electric's gone off." I'm sure half the folk in my social circle substitute the word 'lend' with 'borrow'.
That's how I felt at first, but now I think it might be the usual person-to-person greeting carried to the telephone. For instance, you might ask a stranger with whom you are about to talk how they are before introducing yourself. It may be a rural thing, too. In close communities, the sound of someone's voice is enough for recognition. Seth, in some parts of the Maritimes, my boy is common. Do you really say our kid in your parts?
Yeah, it means a sibling. It took a bit of getting used to as, although born here, I lived an itinerant life. I came home to roost in my late teens.
Funny you mention this. In Spanish there is only one verb for both: prestar. You cannot borrow in Spanish; it must be lent to you. And to answer the OP: Where I live (Puerto Rico) there is a customary greeting one uses when greeting elders that are family or close to you (not strangers) where you say bendición. It's strange, to me, in that the word is said as a statement, without the inflection of a question or request, but that is in fact what it is because there is an expected response of Dios te bendiga (God bless you). I'm not a religious person - at all - so I just cannot toe the line as regards that one and instead, when greeting an elder, I substitute a non-religious, friendly greeting. And when nieces or nephews make the request of me, I also substitute with something other, perhaps a kiss on the cheek or a comment on how splendid their new outfit looks or my, you're so tall, you just keep growing! My failure to toe the line occasionally causes a moment of confusion when I don't say the expected thing, but I try my best to be kindly in my substitutions because I know the other person only means me well. My husband occasionally asks me why I don't just give in and say the expected thing, telling me it's not really religious, just cultural, but I stick to my guns.
The Arabic word insha'allah literally means "If Allah wills it", but it can be used in a variety of ways by Muslims. When I was in Turkey, friends my age would use it in an ironic way, like "I bought a lottery ticket, so by this time next week, I'll be a millionaire, insha'allah." However, one man I was doing business with was very strict in his faith, so when we arranged a meeting for the next day, I said "Well, see you tomorrow," to which he replied "Insha'allah," and would not let me leave until I'd repeated it back to him. He was a very nice, friendly, fair and honest man, but for him, to make a plan without acknowledging that Allah might send it astray was blasphemous.
Those of us within the Christian circle of influence might use "God willing" in similar circumstances..."I'll be a millionaire next week, God willing"..."We'll knock this wall down, open out the fireplace, replaster and redecorate everything. God willing, you won't even recognise the place by the end of May"...although those of a more atheistic/agnostic inclination might be inclined to make a substitution "We'll meet again tomorrow to review progress; with good luck and a following wind!"
In my native tongue a negative is often accompanied with a positive (it's a feature in spoken Finnish). To translate into English, the conversation would go something like this: "Did you know Jeff's the one who stole all the cookies?" "Yes, no I didn't." "So you can't come to the AA meeting tonight?" "Yeah, no I can't." "Is there a way to do this in a non-annoying way?" "Yep, there isn't." "You think it's smart to choose alcohol over cookies?" "Yeah, no, that isn't smart." For learners, it can be difficult to understand the definite response to a yes/no question because you get both 'yes' and 'no' (in Finnish either joo or juu). Over time, you'll get used to it, though, because the idiosyncracy only occurs in negative answers. (Also, if you ask people "how are you" over here, that means you actually want to know what's going on in their lives and want to hear the latest news. Answering with "fine thanks, how are you?" would be dismissive and rude.)
After retiring in 2007, I moved to Nova Scotia and lived at a farm for a year while searching for a house. One of the farmer's visitors was a woman who started every sentence with "Yes, no..." Soon, my new wife's friend also took up the habit. How strange!
I have a friend who grew up in a small community in Saskatchewan and apparently it was fairly commonly expected there to set an extra place at any major meal (some houses did it for every meal, others just for special occasions) as a gesture of hospitality in case a stranger came by. My friend said she thought it was from pioneer days, when a sparse population and rough travel conditions meant that helping people out could be a matter of life and death. I've always kinda liked it. God knows I don't want strangers dropping in on my festive meals, but... It's hard to think of any idiosyncrasies where I live now because I'm so immersed in them. Well, I guess in the winter, pretty much every conversation starts with what condition the roads are in... but this makes sense, because it can change hour to hour (minute to minute!) so word-of-mouth is really better than relying on government road reports. So whenever people arrive somewhere they're asked how their drive was, they report, and then the person who got the report can compare it to other information, spread it along, etc. Kinda weird, but it makes sense in context...
Well, that pretty much nails why I love Nova Scotia, and would love to go back someday. Such a courteous group of people! Here, when some stranger on the phone asks how I'm doing, before introducing themselves, I usually just hang up. Why? Because it's inevitable a cold-caller doing a 'survey' or trying to get me to sign up to something. Different world, eh?
This is so true. I became a Christian before my last tour to Iraq. While I'm not fluent in 'Christianese', I am very acceptance of the fact that the only time I am guaranteed is 'now' and say 'Lord Willing'. In Iraq I worked with this translator who picked up on that. Even though we were of 'opposing faiths', we were men of faith and became friends.
This is fascinating, because while the Japanese will ask "Genki desu ka?," which means, roughly "Are you healthy/happy/in good spirits?" as a rhetorical greeting, when presented with "How are you?" in English, they have a distressing tendency to give a full report.
I'm sure you know that the Spanish word ojalá, (hopefully) derives from a similar Arabic phrase wa-šā’ allāh (وشاء اللّٰه), which also means "may Allah will it".
Here in Germany - while calling a German it goes like this: Me: Hallo! Sprechen Sie English? Them: Hi! Yes! How are you! Me: Good - hey invaded Poland recently? Them: Not this week! Then we talk about whatever and hang up.
Yeah, um... To be honest, the few Spanish phrases I know are just enough to start a fight...unless they can't figure out my accent
