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0 pointsmalkia3y ago0 comments

really:

  - fine, you?

  - fine.. fine.. you?

  - fine :)

heh,

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3 comments · 2 top-level

johnchristopher3y ago· 1 in thread

Here's the french one:

    - ça va ?
    - ça va, ça va... ça va toi ?
    - ça va :)

The `toi` is optional but there's a bit leg pulling involved.

jfengel3y ago

I particularly appreciate that this is literally "Does it go? It goes. Does it go for you? It goes."

Native speakers don't generally look inside idioms the way non-native speakers do. English is full of equally odd-looking constructions. Still, this amuses me all the time in French.

AlotOfReading3y ago

The yy/uu is an interrogative that turns the preceding sentence into a question, so it disappears. Literally translated, it's just:

- good?

- good, good?

- good, <...>

But the actual meaning is:

- how's it going?

- good, how 'bout you?

- fine, <...>

There's simply a few layers of simplification going on to get from the 'correct' grammar to here. Native speakers will use small differences in emphasis between the words, but I'm not nearly fluent enough for that.

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