# Wie geht es Ihnen? (response)



## omidnice

Hallo noch mal!

I am reading a German book, and it says the question can be answered in different ways as follows:

1.Super.
2.Danke, sehr gut.
3.Gut, Danke.
4.Na ja, es geht.
5.Ach, nicht so gut.

which I think they are equivalent to 

1.Great.
2.Thanks, very good.
3.Good, thanks.
4.Well, it (time) goes (passes) (like not too bad/so-so).
5.Oh, not so good.

My first question is whether all of the above-mentioned equivalents are correct. (You may put a tick or cross in front of them.)
Secondly, is it possible to say "I am bad" or something alike in German? Is it culturally acceptable saying something like "Ich bin schlecht" or "Nicht schlecht"?
Thank you in advance.


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## Frieder

omidnice said:


> 1.Super.
> 2.Danke, sehr gut.
> 3.Gut, Danke.
> 4.Na ja, es geht.
> 5.Ach, nicht so gut.
> 
> which I think they are equivalent to
> 
> 1.Great.
> 2.Thanks, very good.
> 3.Good, thanks.
> 4.Well, it (time) goes (passes) (like not too bad/so-so).
> 5.Oh, not so good.
> 
> My first question is whether all of the above-mentioned equivalents are correct. (You may put a tick or cross in front of them.)
> Secondly, is it possible to say "I am bad" or something alike in German? Is it culturally acceptable saying something like "Ich bin schlecht" or "Nicht schlecht"?



"Es geht" or "es geht so" is one notch above "not so good", so you're right with your translation "not _too _bad"

"Mir geht es schlecht" or simply "schlecht" in answer to "Wie geht es Ihnen?" is possible but calls for further explanation.
"Wie geht es Ihnen?"-"Schlecht, ich habe Kopfschmerzen"

"Nicht schlecht" (not bad) is one more possibility instead of "Gut, danke", but more colloquial.

More colloquial answers:
"Och, es muss" (literally: it has to)
"Könnte schlechter sein" (could be worse)
"Gestern ging's noch" (good till yesterday (meant as a pun))
"Gut, und selbst?" (Fine, and you?)
"Frag mich nicht" (don't even ask)


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## Schimmelreiter

Frieder said:


> Gestern ging's noch


is a vulgar bad joke that cannot and must not be recommended to omidnice.


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## Frieder

Bad joke yes, vulgar no.


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## Schimmelreiter

Frieder said:


> Bad joke yes, vulgar no.


Allusions to the sexual sphere are vulgar except in very narrow context.


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## cuore romano

_Wie geht es *Ihnen*? _= He/She is not a friend.
So I would never answer
Super! = too colloquial
Na ja, es geht. - Ach, nicht so gut. = too private


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## Frieder

Schimmelreiter said:
			
		

> Allusions to the sexual sphere are vulgar except in very narrow context.


I don't see any sexual allusions in it.
Over-interpreting a bit?


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## Sowka

Hello 

I agree with Schimmelreiter; "gestern ging's noch" is not a good reply in most contexts, and I see the same sexual connotation that he obviously sees.

I also agree with cuore romano: We should take into consideration that the question is on a formal basis: "Wie geht es *Ihnen*?"; so some of the replies given in the OP and later are too informal or personal, in my opinion.

These are the ones that I would consider appropriate in a general formal context:


omidnice said:


> 2.Danke, sehr gut.
> 3.Gut, Danke.


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## Schimmelreiter

Frieder said:


> I don't see any sexual allusions in it.
> Over-interpreting a bit?


I don't think that _I managed to have an erection yesterday _is considered generally appropriate in Turkish/Azeri culture. Neither is it in ours, by the way. 

You yourself wrote that


Frieder said:


> Gestern ging's noch


was


Frieder said:


> meant as a pun


in response to _Wie geht es Ihnen?_

Now don't you be playing innocent, Frieder!  What kind of _pun_​ might be meant here?


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## Frieder

I won't go down that street with you, SR.
I use this response as a kind of witty remark

"Wie gehts?" "Och, gestern gings noch",
implying that of how I am today, I'm not quite
sure yet.

In my eyes your interpretation is far-fetched.


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## manfy

Without wanting to intrude in the more explicit parts of this discussion, there's one little part of the response missing that shouldn't be missed - not in case of colloquial greeting, but especially not in a formal one: 
No matter what response you choose as being appropriate, it should always be followed by a similar return question, e.g.


omidnice said:


> 2.Danke, sehr gut *- und Ihnen?
> *3.Gut, Danke. *Und wie läuft's bei Ihnen?*



Even if you're not interested in the answer, it is just a polite thing to do!


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## Frieder

Thanks, manfy, for bringing us back to the topic.

I agree that such a counter-question would be appropriate.


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## omidnice

Frieder said:


> "Es geht" or "es geht so" is one notch above "not so good", so you're right with your translation "not _too _bad"



Danke noch mal! According to this thread, "Wie geht es Ihnen?" means (trying to translate it word by word) "How does it (the life) go to you?", is it correct? If so, I will revise my version in #4 to "Well, it (*life*) goes (passes) (like not too bad/so-so)". Is it correct now?

P.S. Some native English speaker may answer the question "How are you?" with something like "I'm functioning." or "I'll live." I think there is a parallelism between these two languages in this case.


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## omidnice

manfy said:


> Without wanting to intrude in the more explicit  parts of this discussion, there's one little part of the response  missing that shouldn't be missed - not in case of colloquial greeting,  but especially not in a formal one:
> No matter what response you choose as being appropriate, it should always be followed by a similar return question, e.g.
> 
> Even if you're not interested in the answer, it is just a polite thing to do!





Frieder said:


> Thanks, manfy, for bringing us back to the topic.
> 
> I agree that such a counter-question would be appropriate.



Thank you both for your comments. You're right. I will do so from now on.


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## omidnice

Sowka said:


> Hello
> I agree with Schimmelreiter; "gestern ging's noch" is not a good reply  in most contexts, and I see the same sexual connotation that he  obviously sees.
> 
> I also agree with cuore romano: We should take into consideration that the question is on a formal basis: "Wie geht es *Ihnen*?"; so some of the replies given in the OP and later are too informal or personal, in my opinion.


Vielen Dank! You're right.


cuore romano said:


> _Wie geht es *Ihnen*? _= He/She is not a friend.
> So I would never answer
> Super! = too colloquial
> Na ja, es geht. - Ach, nicht so gut. = too private



You're completely right. There are actually three versions of this question which I chose one of them for the discussion. The other two versions are "Wie geht es dir?" and "Wie geht's?". I think the former is used in a colloquial way, am I right?
How about the second one?


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## cuore romano

You can ask both of them when talking to a friend (= dir): "Wie geht es dir?" and "Wie geht's?".


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## omidnice

cuore romano said:


> You can ask both of them when talking to a  friend (= dir): "Wie geht es dir?" and "Wie geht's?".


Vielen Dank!


cuore romano said:


> Na ja, es geht. - Ach, nicht so gut. = too private


What do you mean by saying that they are too private? Do you mean they should be used when greeting some (close) friends?


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## Schimmelreiter

omidnice said:


> cuore romano said:
> 
> 
> 
> Na ja, es geht. - Ach, nicht so gut. = too private
> 
> 
> 
> Vielen Dank!
> 
> What do you mean by saying that they are too private? Do you mean they should be used when greeting some (close) friends?
Click to expand...

I don't think it's any different where you hail from: Small talk tends to be superficial with people you aren't close with, and the appearance of everything and everybody being _just fine_ tends to be kept up. In fact, many people don't even listen. There's the old joke of one person saying, _How are you doing?_ and the other one saying, _I'm dying _and the first one saying, _I'm fine too, thank you._
Actually, it's not really a joke. Unfortunately, one might add.

Bottom line: Information as to how you're _really_ doing is unexpected, even unwanted, except among people close enough with one another.


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## omidnice

Schimmelreiter said:


> is a vulgar bad joke that cannot and must not be recommended to omidnice.



Thank you for your remark. What's wrong with this version? I don't know the meaning of that expression exactly, but there are some expressions in my mother tongue which their usage are acceptable in some areas while they are considered completely rude and offensive in other places. In fact, there are some regional differences in usage of those words. Is this expression in a similar scenario?


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## omidnice

Schimmelreiter said:


> I don't think it's any different where you hail from: Small talk tends to be superficial with people you aren't close with, and the appearance of everything and everybody being _just fine_ tends to be kept up. In fact, many people don't even listen. There's the old joke of one person saying, _How are you doing?_ and the other one saying, _I'm dying _and the first one saying, _I'm fine too, thank you._
> Actually, it's not really a joke. Unfortunately, one might add.
> 
> Bottom line: Information as to how you're _really_ doing is unexpected, even unwanted, except among people close enough with one another.



Oh, I see. Vielen Dank!


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## Frieder

omidnice said:


> Thank you for your remark. What's wrong with this version? I don't know the meaning of that expression exactly, but there are some expressions in my mother tongue which their usage are acceptable in some areas while they are considered completely rude and offensive in other places. In fact, there are some regional differences in usage of those words. Is this expression in a similar scenario?



Well, as you could find out from our somewhat heated 
discussion, the denotation of what "gestern ging's noch" 
could imply varies widely.

I did indeed make a quick poll among some of my friends
and aquaintances, and not one of them (even my wife)
found the alleged innuendo that some of the forum members
here observed.

My advice to you would be: never say "gestern ging's noch"
should anyone ask you how you are. You could really (I mean
REALLY) get into trouble.

I, however, will continue to use this phrase scot-free within 
my circle of friends without further risk of physical abuse .


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## Sowka

Thank you for your clear and supportive advice, Frieder.


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## omidnice

Frieder said:


> Well, as you could find out from our somewhat heated
> discussion, the denotation of what "gestern ging's noch"
> could imply varies widely.
> 
> I did indeed make a quick poll among some of my friends
> and aquaintances, and not one of them (even my wife)
> found the alleged innuendo that some of the forum members
> here observed.
> 
> My advice to you would be: never say "gestern ging's noch"
> should anyone ask you how you are. You could really (I mean
> REALLY) get into trouble.
> 
> I, however, will continue to use this phrase scot-free within
> my circle of friends without further risk of physical abuse .



I am very cautious about using those troublesome words. I will do according to your suggestion. 

Could you please state your opinion about my question in post #13?


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## Frieder

omidnice said:
			
		

> Danke noch mal! According to this thread,  "Wie geht es Ihnen?" means (trying to translate it word by word) "How  does it (the life) go to you?", is it correct? If so, I will revise my  version in #4 to "Well, it (*life*) goes (passes) (like not too bad/so-so)". Is it correct now?



The word _es _in _es geht (mir gut)_ means nothing whatsoever.
It is the same _es _as in _es regnet_ (it rains).
You can't ask "wie geht?" (except in East Prussia perhaps),
it's always "wie geht es". You'll find many discussions here
concerning _es_. Try this one for instance.

"Es geht" means exactly what you assumed: not too bad/so-so.
There is no sense in trying to translate it literally.


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## omidnice

Vielen Dank, Frieder!


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## qwqwqw

"gestern ging's noch"

Wenn man Mitarbeiter hat, also sagen wir in Produktion, wie privat ist das?  Duzt man oder nicht?  Darf man so antworten?


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## Frieder

Freunde, Familie, Kollegen, Nachbarn, die man sehr gut kennt 
und mit denen man schon ausgiebig gesprochen hat. Man sollte
auf jeden Fall "per du" sein. 

Vorgesetzte, Menschen, die man nicht oder kaum kennt, öffentlich 
Bedienstete, alle, deren Humor man nicht kennt (und die eventuell
 körperlich überlegen sind).


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## qwqwqw

Sehr nützlich, danke.

PS: Es gibt ein ähnlicher Gruß, oder eher eine Anfrage, im Englischen:  Hey hi, Frieder, how's it hangin' ?  Manche finden das lustig, anderen kommt dieser Gruß aber ziemlich beleidigend vor.


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## ablativ

Schimmelreiter said:


> I don't think it's any different where you hail from: Small talk tends to be superficial with people you aren't close with, and the appearance of everything and everybody being _just fine_ tends to be kept up. In fact, many people don't even listen. There's the old joke of one person saying, _How are you doing?_ and the other one saying, _I'm dying _and the first one saying, _I'm fine too, thank you._
> Actually, it's not really a joke. Unfortunately, one might add.
> 
> Bottom line: Information as to how you're _really_ doing is unexpected, even unwanted, except among people close enough with one another.


For that reason:

If you are doing fine, the answer would be: _Danke, gut!

_If you are doing not so well, the answer would be: _Danke!_ (for inquiring) 

Same thing in a restaurant: _How was your meal? Danke, gut! _(if you liked it), _Danke! _​(if you didn't)


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## Glockenblume

cuore romano said:


> _Wie geht es *Ihnen*? _= He/She is not a friend.
> So I would never answer
> Super! = too colloquial
> Na ja, es geht. - Ach, nicht so gut. = too private


It depends on the context. With some persons you may say _"Sie"_ in spite of a personal relation. And then, these answers would be OK.


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## qwqwqw

Glockenblume said:


> ...With some persons you may say _"Sie"_ in spite of a personal relation...



Warum würde man das so tun, ich wundere mich?


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## Sowka

Hello 



Glockenblume said:


> It depends on the context. With some persons you may say _"Sie"_ in spite of a personal relation.





qwqwqw said:


> Warum würde man das so tun, ich wundere mich?



This happens because often, when you meet someone for the first time, you will use the polite form of address "Sie". Over time, you may develop a closer relationship with that person, sharing, for instance, your common passion for football, talking about your families, etc, but this will not necessarily "translate into" a change to the informal form of address "Du". 

So I agree with Glockenblume, but I think that as a general guideline, the advice given by cuore romano is very good. In case of doubt, it's better to use a more formal way of speaking, rather than a too colloquial and jocular one.


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