Yes, we British are a funny lot.

"Hello there, how are you!" actually means, "Oh Gawd, there's Ruby Knickerbocker, and she's going to want to tell me her whole life story!" So, by asking her how she is, you're actually telling her that you don't really want to know at all. It took me a long time to suss this one out, because I used to think people really wanted to know, so, I'd tell them.

BIG MISTAKE! :0)

I think it was my Spanish blood that made me stop and chatter, then want them to tell me how they were, or maybe I was just being 'Nice but Dim'....again. ;0)


Once you've cracked the code, which is that the British often say the opposite of what they mean, (sadly) it's all plain sailing.