mumbojumbo  +  176532 Fri, 30 Dec 05 04:24 PM Can you tell me what the reply for the question 'How do you do?' should be? Thanks, MJ.     mumbojumbo Joined on Tue, May 3 2005 New Member 30

	Sam C  +  176554 Fri, 30 Dec 05 05:39 PM 'how do you do' is not, usually, a question (the concept of question coming from pragmatics), although its form is, as you spotted, interogative (initial wh-word + subj.-aux. inversion).  also, rising intonation, while not always co-occuring with wh-questions, is absent. a reasonable response to this formal-ish greeting is the mirror 'how do you do'. Sam C Joined on Mon, Dec 19 2005 New Member 45 Intonations

	Teo  +  176556 Fri, 30 Dec 05 05:44 PM A: How do you do? Nice to meet you. B: How do you do? Nice to meet you, too. Teo Joined on Tue, Sep 28 2004 Taiwan Contributing Member 1,631 Thank you very much for your reply.

	YoHf  +  176559 Fri, 30 Dec 05 05:45 PM I would answer: "Fine thanks" Otherwise if you really want to be polite (ex.: when you meet someone for the first time) you can pick this one: "How are you doing?" Correct me if I'm wrong... YoHf Joined on Wed, Oct 26 2005 Senior Member 3,347 Shinichi Okazaki.

	nona the brit  +  176578 Fri, 30 Dec 05 05:59 PM How do you do is a stock greeting and the correct stock answer is always just to repeat How do you do. It is not actually asking a question. However, it is becoming increasingly obsolete as a form of greeting. nona the brit Joined on Wed, Sep 22 2004 England Veteran Member 11,713 The name says it all.