• Agent641@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    14
    ·
    4 months ago

    Brits ofen say “You alright?” As a substitute for “Hi.”

    Pretty jarring when you’re not used to it. Id think “God, I must look like shit if they’re genuinely checking on my welfare!”

    • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      4 months ago

      Yeah Tom Scott did one of his linguistics videos about that, he had a word for it but some questions aren’t really questions they’re basically just rituals, though rephrased a different way makes them genuine questions, and when you have major dialects of the “same” language like British and American English, we use different ones. “Are you alright?” is basically a noise of greeting in Britain and an expression of genuine concern in America, while “How are you?” is the reverse.

      • feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        4 months ago

        Chinese version 你吃了吗 or variations on that, although it’s not used so much anymore. Literally means “have you eaten”, except it doesn’t really require an answer. I imagine it came up in that video, but it’s a good one.

        • batmaniam@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          4 months ago

          Literally means “have you eaten”, except it doesn’t really require an answer.

          Grandmothers in every culture

    • Aceticon@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      4 months ago

      When I moved to London, I remember the old lady at the laundromat addressing me as “love”

      I was like: “Damn, over here my charm even works with old ladies”

      As it turns out, calling somebody “love” it’s just a way of addressing people in some English regions.