You’re not doing well.

Flint · 03-28-2019, 06:06 PM

When people ask, “How are you doing?” they are not asking you about performing an action— to which “I am performing well,” would be an appropriate response. That is, an adverb (well) modifying the verb (performing).

The question, “How are you doing?” is commonly understood to mean, “What is your mental status?” and the appropriate answers are adjectives— e.g. on the ‘good’ to ‘bad’ scale.

“What is your status?”
“My status is good.”

“How are you doing?”
“GOOD. My status is GOOD.”

The “doing well” bandwagon is just pseudo-intellectual, socioeconomic virtue-signalling. I reject the entire premise, wholesale. The understood meaning of common-use language is the entire point of having a language.

03-28-2019, 06:06 PM	#1
Flint Snowflake Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Dystopia Posts: 13,136	You’re not doing well. When people ask, “How are you doing?” they are not asking you about performing an action— to which “I am performing well,” would be an appropriate response. That is, an adverb (well) modifying the verb (performing). The question, “How are you doing?” is commonly understood to mean, “What is your mental status?” and the appropriate answers are adjectives— e.g. on the ‘good’ to ‘bad’ scale. “What is your status?” “My status is good.” “How are you doing?” “GOOD. My status is GOOD.” The “doing well” bandwagon is just pseudo-intellectual, socioeconomic virtue-signalling. I reject the entire premise, wholesale. The understood meaning of common-use language is the entire point of having a language. __________________ **************** There's a level of facility that everyone needs to accomplish, and from there it's a matter of deciding for yourself how important ultra-facility is to your expression. ... I found, like Joseph Campbell said, if you just follow whatever gives you a little joy or excitement or awe, then you're on the right track. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Terry Bozzio** Last edited by Flint; 03-28-2019 at 06:11 PM.

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