Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 11:33:35 -0500 From: Thomas Creswell Subject: Re: "How are you doing?" Ron Butters wrote: > > "How are you doing?" does have some kind of primary communicative function it > seems to me, i.e., it means something like 'I am willing to have a > conversation with you and am soliciting your first conversational move'. Of > course, it is not always sincere. Yes, and the usual response is something like "OK" or "Fine" or "Hanging in," evem from a hospital bed. So much for the solicitation of first conversational moves. Anyone who goes into greater detail is usually classified as a literal-minded bore.