From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
how do you do?
( formal ) A greeting used upon being introduced to someone. Alternatives are how are you , pleased to meet you , and nice to meet you . (Sometimes used as a rhetorical question among familiar parties, depending on the region).
1913 , Eleanor H. Porter , chapter 8 , in Pollyanna [1] , L.C. Page, →OCLC :"How do you do ?" began Pollyanna politely. "I'm from Miss Polly Harrington, and I'd like to see Mrs. Snow, please."
In obsolete usage, this phrase could be inflected: I asked him how he did.
Phrase: how do you do
Abkhaz: ( to a woman ) бышҧаҟоу ( bəŝpaqʼow ) , ( to a man ) ушҧаҟоу ( uŝpaqʼow ) , ( to more than one person ) шәышҧаҟақоу ( ŝʷəŝpaqʼakow )
Arabic: تَشَرَّفْنَا ( tašarrafnā )
Asturian: encantáu (ast) ( said by a male ) , encantada (ast) ( said by a female ) , Encantáu de coñocete , ¿Cómu tás?
Catalan: encantat (ca) m , encantada (ca) f , encantat de coneixe't
Chinese:
Cantonese: 幸會 / 幸会 ( hang6 wui6 )
Mandarin: 幸會 / 幸会 (zh) ( xìnghuì ) , 請多關照 / 请多关照 (zh) ( qǐng duō guānzhào ) , 您好 (zh) ( nínhǎo ) , 初次見面 / 初次见面 ( chūcì jiànmiàn )
Czech: těší mě
Danish: goddag (da) , (det) glæder mig
Dutch: hoe gaat het , hoe gaat het met jou ( informal ) , hoe gaat het met u ( formal ) , hoe maakt u het ( formal )
Estonian: kuidas läheb
Faroese: hvussu gongur
Finnish: hyvää päivää (fi)
French: enchanté (fr) m , enchantée (fr) f
Galician: encantado m
German: sehr erfreut , sehr angenehm , wie geht es dir (de)
Greek: χαίρω πολύ (el) ( chaíro polý )
Hiligaynon: kamusta
Hungarian: örvendek (hu) , örvendek a szerencsének (hu) , örülök, hogy megismerhetem (hu)
Indonesian: apa kabar? (id)
Italian: piacere di conoscerla m or f , come va , tutto bene
Japanese: 初めまして (ja) ( はじめまして, hajimemashite ) , ( very formal ) 始めてお目にかかります ( はじめておめにかかります, hajimete o-me ni kakarimasu ) , 御機嫌よう , ご機嫌よう ( ごきげんよう, gokigen yō )
Kazakh: сәлеметсіз бе ( sälemetsız be ) , амансыз ба ( amansyz ba )
Korean: 안녕하십니까 ( annyeong-hasimnikka )
Latin: quid agis ? ( said to one person ) , quid agitis ? ( said to more than one person )
Macedonian: мило ми е ( milo mi e ) , драго ми е ( drago mi e )
Navajo: nizhónígo ałhééhosiilzįįd
Norwegian:
Bokmål: formal: gleder meg ( literally “ I am pleased (to meet you) ” ) , more informal: hyggelig å møte deg , hvordan har du det
Persian: از آشنایی شما خوشوقتم ( az âšenâyi-ye šomâ xošvaqtam )
Polish: jak się masz (pl) ( informal, to a singular listener ) , jak się macie ( informal, to many listeners ) , jak leci (pl) ( colloquial ) , jak tam (pl) ( informal )
Portuguese: muito prazer
Russian: о́чень прия́тно ( óčenʹ prijátno ) , как дела́? (ru) ( kak delá? ) , прия́тно познако́миться ( prijátno poznakómitʹsja )
Spanish: encantado (es) ( said by a male ) , encantada (es) ( said by a female ) , ¿cómo está usted?
Swedish: hur står det till ( formal ) , hur är det med dig ( informal )
Tagalog: kumusta (tl)
Tillamook: dəʔ šʔálen̓əxʷš
Turkish: nasılsınız (formal), ne var ne yok (informal)
how do you do (plural how do you dos )
( UK , euphemistic ) A difficult situation
1993 , Nick Park, Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers :Well, this is a fine how do you do isn't it, Gromit?
2010 , Michael Sledge, The More I Owe You: A Novel , Counterpoint Press, →ISBN , page 78 :On the winding road to Petropolis, they did not speak, not about modernism or the construction of houses or antique bird jails or fine how-do-you-dos .
2013 , Chris Raschka, Seriously, Norman! , Scholastic Inc., →ISBN , page 115 :"Vienna!" Mr. B. went on. "This is a bit of a how-do-you-do , is it not?"