2330 How Doo

"How do you do?" Or, "How are you?" Interesting questions. Are they just different ways to say the same thing depending on where you were raised?

Some folks, whether through upbringing or later adaptation, say, "How do you do?" Whereas others don't really seem to care what or how you do it. They just want to know how you are.

There's certainly a subtle distinction. One like I used to teach my kids. Like when someone is criticizing your writing. They’re just criticizing the job you are doing, not you personally. So maybe that's the difference. I don't want to know how you are, I may end up with way too much personal information. Just give me a short overview of how you're doing whatever it is you're doing.

Then there's the third alternative, "Howdy do," but that assumes a level of countrification that's not worth analysis. Not to mention the inevitable descent into the scary clown syndrome precipitated by "Howdy Doody."

Doody, by the way, has for quite some time been a cutesy euphemism for excrement. So how is it that it made it on a children's TV program? Especially since it was for children that the euphemism was invented. Didn't the producer of the show think kids would notice? Howdy Doody? Well, first you go into the bathroom...

Likewise, there's "whoops" and "oops." Which are you? Are you the kind that when confronted with a surprising accident, like spilling your coffee on your lap, says "Whoops"? Or is "oops" your preference. 

I do both. "Whoops" is usually what I use when I myself commit the error. "Oops" is what I use when I'm commenting on someone else's clumsiness.

I know. Not too exciting I guess. Definitely not worth a lot of whoopty doo. 

America, ya gotta love it.