English Communication: Don’t Shake Hands Yet – But Do Greetings and Goodbyes, part A

Important for this blog Wednesday, May 5, 2021, don’t shake hands yet. But do these—

 ‘What’s happening?’

 ‘How are things going?’

 ‘Good evening, Sir/ Ms (‘Miz’).’

 In the culture of the North America, these are usually ritual greetings.  If someone asks you “How are you ?”  or “What’s up?”, it is a simple “hello.”   The other person is expecting a one or few word reply.

 This is different than many other countries, such as Romania, where a greeting is invitation to talk about the well-being of each person.

So many choices in North American greetings and goodbyes! Determine the who, when, how, and context so that you know better which to choose.

Here are ptions for expanding your ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’:

Formal Greetings

Use for business setting, public speaking, or in the service professions, such as restaurants and retail.  

• Good morning/afternoon/evening (Answer: ‘Hi’)
• Nice to meet you – Used when meeting someone for the first time. Can be used in informal settings with new acquaintances. (Answer: ‘Nice to meet you too’)
• It’s good to see you again – Used with someone you have met before. (Answer: ‘You too’)

Formal Goodbyes

Use in business setting, public speaking, or in the service professions

• It was nice to see you again (Answer: ‘You too’)
• Take care  – This is also often used with friends and  used especially by females. (Answer: ‘Thanks, you too!’)
• Stay safe. — Popular due to Covid pandemic. (Answer: “You, too.”)
• Have a good day/week/weekend/trip – This can also be used with friends. (Answer: ‘Thanks! You too.’)

Informal Greetings

Use with friends

•  Hey! (Answer: ‘Hey’)
• What’s up?  (Answer: ‘Not much’ or ‘hey’)
• Hey! Long time! (Answer: ‘Yeah, it’s been a while.’)
• How’s it going? (Answer: ‘Hey!’ or ‘Pretty good. You?’ or ‘Not bad. What about you?’, “Hanging in there.”)
• Hey! How are you? (Answer: ‘Pretty good. You?’)

Informal Goodbyes

Use with friends

• See you later (Answer: ‘Yeah!’ or ‘Later.’)
• Later (Answer: ‘See ya.’ or ‘Take care.’)
• So long. (Answer: ‘ Catch you later.’)

Later in the upcoming blog will be more on avoiding confusion with ‘How are you?’  

If you want more direct practice with the clear speech mode, catch free You Tube videos at Youtube.com/ClearTalkMastery — English Speech Tips videos and Accent Reduction Tip videos  .

 Contributing editor: Amber McKinney

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