Saying “how are you?” when we mean “hello”
When a store clerk or acquaintance in America asks, “How are you doing?” they aren’t actually looking for an answer. Instead, it’s meant as a simple greeting, similar to “Hi there!” A European, on the other hand, “will launch into a monologue about their health and wellbeing and ask [how are you?] right back and expect an answer,” Sophie-Claire Hoeller wrote for The Independent.