How's it going - Grammarist

The idiom how's it going is another way to say how are you, how are things progressing, or what's up. The it can refer to. Skiptocontent How’sitgoing |Grammarist |Usage |Grammarist |Usage Theidiom how’sitgoing isanotherwaytosay howareyou,howarethingsprogressing, or what’sup.The it canrefertolifeingeneral,aproject,oryourday. Itshouldbenotedthatthisidiomissaidinmanycountrieswiththeanswerexpectedtobe fine or good.Thisisnotusuallywhatapersonsayswhenheorshetrulywantsdetailsofyourlifeorday.Oftenthisissaidasacontinuationofthegreeting(e.g.,Hi,how’sitgoing?),andthereturnanswershouldalsobeacontinuation(e.g.,Good,seeyoulater.) Ifthespeakerwantsfurtherdetails,heorshewillaskagainormakeitunderstoodbyintonationorfacialexpressions. Inwrittencommunication,theidiomcanappearaspartofagreetinginaletter,butagainalmostasarhetoricalquestionthatisnotexpectedtobeanswered. ExamplesIseealotofpeoplewhenI’mworkingthelunchduringtheweek.EvenifpeopleI’veseenbeforearen’tsittinginmysection,Ialwaysswingbyandsay,“Ohhey,how’sitgoing?”justtoletthemknowthatIremembertheywereherebeforeandletthemknowthey’reingoodhands.[Cosmopolitan]Everymorning,aswewalkthroughmiddlecampus,weinevitablypassseveralpeopleweknowandengageinadialoguethatfitsaconstructresemblingthis:“Hey,how’sitgoing?”“Good,howaboutyou?”“Good.”Afterthis,wemoveon.Thephrasehow’sitgoing,whichhasbecomenothingmorethanasuperficialconversationalplaceholderforgenuineinterest,demandsalotmorethantheusualmechanicalandlifelessresponseitreceives.[TheHeights] 2thoughtson“How’sitgoing” “Ifthespeakerwantsfurtherdetails,heorshewillaskagainormakeitunderstoodbyintonationorfacialexpressions.”Notifyou’vejustsaid“seeyoulater.”Honestly,whatanoddresponseto“how’sitgoing?”Ontopofthat,whywouldtheyaskagain?Surelythey’daskamorespecificquestion,suchas“How’sthenewjobgoing?” Reply Youknowhowtoreplytothatquestionbythepersonwhoasksit.It’sawaytoacknowledgesomeone’spresencewithasmileorthefaceofthemomentandkeepmovingbecausewearealwaysmoving. Reply LeaveaCommentCancelreplyCommentName Email Website Savemyname,email,andwebsiteinthisbrowserforthenexttimeIcomment. Δ Subscribetoournewsletter Getgrammartipsstraighttoyourinbox GrammaristisaparticipantintheAmazonServicesLLCAssociatesProgram,anaffiliateadvertisingprogramdesignedtoprovideameansforsitestoearnadvertisingfeesbyadvertisingandlinkingtoAmazon.com.Whenyoubuyviathelinksonoursite,wemayearnanaffiliatecommissionatnocosttoyou. 2022©Grammarist Home About Contact Advertise PrivacyPolicy Terms CloseCourses Grammar PartsofSpeech PunctuationMarks Style Capitalization Usage Archaisms Colloquialisms Confusables VarietiesofEnglish -ic/-icalWords WordsandPhrases Colloquialisms HardWordstoSpell Compounds CommonlyConfusedEnglishWords Eggcornsandmondegreens WhatisaHomophone? Idioms Interestingwords Loanwordsandloanphrases Newwords RedundantWords SpellingRules WhatisaHomophone? WordsThatStartWithRe -elverbs -ize/-isewords WritingTools BestGrammarChecker GrammarlyReview Resources Glossary Interviews Articles