how do you do
101
6.1
- idiom
- Formal
- How do you do, John? It's nice to finally meet you.
- How do you do, Mr.
- How do you do, sir
- How do you do, ma'am
Examples
-
(offering his hand) How do you do, ma'am?
Fiction book (1999) -
"How do you do, Mr. Pitt," she said without any expression except a slight curiosity.
Fiction book (1993) -
- How do you do?
-
Mr. Dick: How do you do, sir?
Fiction book (2000) -
How do you do, Mike?
-
How do you do, sir?
-
Yes, I can see that from your uniform and badge. How do you do?
Fiction book (2001) -
Mr. Tufnel, how do you do?
-
George Fillmore: How do you do, Mr. Wilson?
Fiction book (2000) -
Violet and Klaus moved forward to shake his hand and say, "How do you do?"
Fiction book (1999)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A short friendly greeting you use when you meet someone
∞
1.0
A polite greeting people say when they meet in the morning
82
8.0
A friendly, informal way to say hello
24
8.4
A friendly informal greeting used in the morning
19
9.9
An informal word people use to say hello
19
9.9
A casual greeting that asks what is going on
17
9.1
A casual greeting asking how someone is or what's new
16
9.9
A casual way to ask someone how they are or what they are doing
11
8.5
To ask someone how they are when you meet them
6
9.9
A short informal greeting used to ask how someone is
5
9.9
A casual way to say hello to someone
5
8.6
A friendly informal way to say hello
1
9.9
A friendly informal way to say hello
1
1.0
A warm greeting that makes someone feel welcome
1
9.9
A casual hello used to ask how someone is doing
1
8.2
A polite, formal greeting used when meeting someone for the first time
1
9.9
A friendly informal greeting asking how someone is
1
9.9
A friendly informal greeting to say hello
How Formal
Surface Forms
Morphology
how + do + you + do
Although the individual words are high-frequency, their literal combination reads as a genuine wh-question; the phrase functions as a fixed formal greeting whose pragmatic meaning ('pleased to meet you' / formulaic opening) is not derivable from the parts. A B1 learner who knows the words but has not seen the expression will likely treat it as a literal question or confuse it with 'how are you', so its conventionalized, non-compositional use makes it opaque.
Etymology
How do you do comes from an old polite question that meant 'how are you'. In very formal meetings people often answered with the same words instead of giving a real answer, so it became a short, set greeting for a first meeting.