Greetings in English

From a Facebook conversation:

Tiffany: Native English Speakers, When you greet someone on a day to day basis, what words do you say? And what is the typical answer? Be honest, variety helps!

Laurie: Hello or Hi.......then i tell them that my Nan thinks i'm wonderful ;) hehehe

Angus: Howdy!

Tiffany: Laurie, you never use ''g'day"?

Laurie: maybe only sometimes.......Grandpa Bill says it & i also know a few others that use it all the time too :) another one I & other people i know say is "Hey"......Mum says Hello too....Oh & Nan says "G'day" too :)

Sevika: Hey, how's it going? Or simply the very South African, howzit!

Vance: For telephones I always use "Ahoy", as Alexander Graham Bell would have wanted. In real life, theres no telling what you'll get when you see me. Any thing from me pretending to tie my shoes to avoid talking to you, to a loud and disingenuous "HEY, HOW YOU DOIN' BUDDY!"

Joe: If I saw you this morning I would say "Hey Tiffany"

Sarah: hey, how are you/how was your day?
reply: good/quite good/ok/busy/the usual

Sarah: @Vance: what do you do if you bend down to tie your shoes, and you realise you have no laces, or velcro?

Vance:
I've many tactics for avoiding talking to insipid fools. shoelaces are just one.

Alicia: We always say "good morning" and reply "good morning" at work - everyone.

Barb: I say hiya which is very british

Lisa: If it is someone I know well, I usually say "Hey" or "Hey there!". If it is more an acquaintance (that I'd see on a day-to-day basis), I us "Hi" or "Hello". The reply is usually a repeat of the greeting I used. (Beyond this is the very typical but meaningless "How are you doing?" to which the reply is a very non-committal "Fine", "Good" or a plea-for-connection-through-shared-misery, "Tired", "Exhausted".)

Let's try to use these every day expressions the next time we meet.

• 
  
  
  •