World Greetings! by Jasonzzz

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World Greetings!

POSTED BY: JASONZZZ
UPDATED: Friday, February 13, 2004 14:48
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Friday, February 13, 2004 7:46 AM

Alright, something less heavy of a topic that can't possibly degenerate into some sort of ethics or morality argument/debate.

Different cultures use different phrases to greet, say hello, or just to acknowledge each other's presense. In many states in Mexico, the greeting literally means "Have a Hammock" from the practice of the Mayan culture's pratice to sleep in hammocks, something that descendents this very day still do.
In Chinese, there are a couple of phrases, one is NiHao "Are you Well? or Wishing you well" and the other is ChiLeFanMayYou "Have you eaten yet?" - of course from the often and periodic famine that hits the country in the past...

In America, it's "Wassup", "Howzit hangin", "Hey there", "Yo"... I have absolutely no idea what these mean or signify.

What does your country or culture's greeting mean?

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Friday, February 13, 2004 8:27 AM

IDEFIX

ok, let's see:

"Hi!" - looks like we just took it from the english or american doesn't seem to mean anything. younger people use it most I'd say. it's modern and informal.

"Hallo!" - means hello or hi, no meaning that I can tell. that's what most people say when meeting friends, followed by whatever conversation one wants to have with them.

"Guten Morgen/Abend...!" good morning/evening... often used around here. means "I wish you a good morning" but no one really thinks of it that way, it's just a greeting. used with near strangers and almost everyone that one feels a need to acknowledge when passing by. standard greeting when one comes to work and there are colleagues already there.

"Grüß Gott!" "Gruess Gott!" very bavarian not used in northern germany means "greet God" should probably be a blessing. bavaria was very katholic. but it isn't really meant that way nowadays. used mostly by older people or traditionalists.

"Servus" can be used for greeting but is also used to say good-bye. it's also bavarian not used in northern germany. I'm not really sure what it means, could come from the latin word, that would mean "slave/servant." but that's a far stretch. it's used between friends mostly. that's what my dad says to his buddies.

we don't really say any 'stupid' sentences just because or I can't think of any. maybe there are other germans here somewhere who can help.

we say "Wie geht's?" that's "How do you feel?" but we expect at least a bit of an answer to it. mostly it's just "Gut." (good) oder "OK" but "Schlecht." (bad) is also acceptable. we like to be honest to the point of not being polite, that would be the biggest difference to the anglo-saxon way. if one says "bad" he doesn't have to tell the other person why he feels bad but it is taken as some kind of a warning not to expect a really good mood or something and maybe be patient or understanding. if the one feeling bad is a close friend it's a clue to ask why. but you can even ask a stranger who answers "bad" why. he will probably tell you he's ill or he missed a bus or he was in a traffic jam or whatever made him feel bad. if it's none of your business he'll tell you exactly that and assume that you'll understand and that's it.

there's a joke about the region in germany where I come from. it's called "Franken" and it is the northern half of Bavaria, south Germany.

a Franke stumbles against someone else and says: "Hoppala!" (an almost nonverbal expression of surprise) and the other one not coming from our part of the woods is outraged and asks: "Won't you even appologise?" the Franke answers "Didn't I?".

we're said to be grouchy and not overly taktful and polite. so an expression of surprise to us means "I didn't do it on purpose" and that implies an appology. not a people of many 'unnecessary' words. but not all germans are that bad, northerners are said to be more formal and polite.

and of my very unpolitical and unmoral little lesson on how to be greeted by a german.

Idefix

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Friday, February 13, 2004 8:40 AM

KNIBBLET

In Minnesota, the greeting is "Gaaaahd, shut the damn door already".

What is translates to is: "It's cold out. I'm not paying to heat the outside. Shut the damn door already."

"Just keep walkin, preacher man."

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Friday, February 13, 2004 9:55 AM

HERO

In the southern US people use the informal greeting "Hey Yaul".

It means "Greetings and Salutations My Good and Dear Friend or Family Member."

I also encounter the following: "How are you?" in some form or another. This is a poor casual greeting as it encourages at least a minimal detailed response. This takes time, energy, and effort that is not keeping with the implied scope of the casual greeting context. I find it very uncomfortable.

H

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Friday, February 13, 2004 10:23 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

Jasonzzz wrote:

Quote:
In America, it's "Wassup", "Howzit hangin", "Hey there", "Yo"... I have absolutely no idea what these mean or signify.

Not too much into the street slang, and I definitely do not use any of those phrases myself.

Personally, I just use the greeting of the day; "good morning", "good afternoon" or sometimes simply "hello" or "hi".

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

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Friday, February 13, 2004 1:56 PM

TEELABROWN

I use hey, hello, and some really odd ones my friends and I use. And example of good bye is...

My Friend: "I know where you sleep!"
Me: "I know where the poisonous chemicals are kept!"
My Friend: "And I know your favorite food!"

See, I'm crazy. We just go away laughing for some reason.

Example of a greeting is...

Okay, a quote from Catch-22
"Well, at least we know what he dreams about. Lousy, stinking sons of bitches" But we say the last part very quiently.

We're just odd.

_____________
"Freedom is the Freedom to say that 2+2 makes 4. If that is granted, all else follws"-Winston, 1984
Teela Brown, keeper of bad typing.
"No one reads these things any way."- Bart on Blackboard

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Friday, February 13, 2004 1:58 PM

TEELABROWN

Another greeting used by me and my friends.

My Friend: Do you have Fluxx today?"
Me: "I happen to have it."

_____________
"Freedom is the Freedom to say that 2+2 makes 4. If that is granted, all else follws"-Winston, 1984
Teela Brown, keeper of bad typing.
"No one reads these things any way."- Bart on Blackboard

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Friday, February 13, 2004 2:48 PM

FREMDFIRMA

"Where to?"

As a cabbie, that *IS* our greeting.

For personal friends, my 'goodbye' is robbed from the armorer in the PS2 game Drakhan.
" 'ave fun out there, yer never really alive till yer knee-deep in gore!..."

Also noteworthy is that folk south of Baltimore tend to use "Hun" the way Canadians use "Eh?"

-frem
diefuxdie

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