how's tricks
- idiom
- Archaic
:
¿cómo van las cosas?
- Hey, how's tricks?
Examples
-
I haven't seen you in ages! How's tricks these days?
-
She called me last night just to say how's tricks and catch up on life.
-
It's good to see you—how's tricks these days?
-
When I bumped into my old friend, I greeted him with, how's tricks?
-
It's good to see you—how's tricks these days?
-
When I bumped into my old friend, I greeted him with, how's tricks?
-
I haven't seen you in ages! How's tricks these days?
Synonyms
86
6.1
A formal greeting used when meeting someone for the first time that does not need an answer
38
9.1
A casual greeting asking how someone is or what's new
27
9.9
A short informal greeting used to ask how someone is
19
9.6
To ask how things are going, for example about work or a project
3
9.9
A casual way to ask someone how they are or what they are doing
2
8.5
To ask someone how they are when you meet them
A friendly informal greeting that asks how someone is doing
A casual greeting that asks what is going on
To ask someone how their work or task is going
Surface Forms
Morphology
how's + tricks
Although 'how's' is compositionally 'how is', the noun 'tricks' does not literally mean 'how are you' or 'how things are going' and its use here is idiomatic. The phrase 'how's tricks' is a colloquial greeting whose meaning cannot be reliably derived from knowledge of the individual words, so a B1 learner would likely not infer it without prior exposure.
Etymology
How's tricks likely comes from old casual talk where tricks meant a person's jobs or business. So asking how's tricks is a friendly short way to ask 'how are things' or 'how's life' today.