Good vs. Well

[Tafiti]

You know, I've decided I like "good" better. But I'll qualify that by saying I only prefer it, knowing full well it's grammatically incorrect, as a single-word response. (Q: How are you? A: Good.) You see, if I only feel like uttering a single word, I feel pretentious saying "Well." Just doesn't sound right all by itself. Usually when I say "well", I purposely phrase into a sentence so it doesn't sound so goddamn goofy (I'm doing well, thanks).

So someone asks me, "How are you?" I respond like so, and I return the question, and the person says, "well."

Fuck me.

[Heidi]

1. You could respond, "Fine."

And then the other person would probably say, "Good." :P

[Tafiti]

4. That's no good either.

Fine is so blase, though it does eliminate the problem.

I enjoy the social experiment. You never know what I'll say, then I observe what happens.

I'm fuckin' weird. :silly:

[Heidi]

7. Well,

fine. ;)

Though grammatically incorrect, I don't mind hearing someone reply, "Good," to the question, "How're you?" It beats the heck out of, "Super!" :bounce:

[Tafiti]

8. Well,

touche. :)

"Super" - yeah, terrible. Who says that?

Yeah, I don't mind it either. It just doesn't sound bad. I mean, usually, incorrect grammar sticks out pretty clearly, like when I hear someone say "them" instead of "those", :shudder:. But "good", totally innocuous as far as that goes, IMO.

[Heidi]

10. My German and Swiss-German friends often reply,

"Supah!" It always makes me want to say, "No. Really. How are you?" :P

[Tafiti]

11. Hilarious!

Definitely. You can't take a response like that seriously.

Do you speak German?

[Heidi]

12. Not very well,

but I do make an effort; it's a matter of survival and respect. My Swiss-German is better than my "high German," and I speak a little Italian, too, because it's the official language of our state. But my English is supah.

[amitten]

2. It's fine grammar to say "you look good", but for some reason

people think it's correct to say "you look well". If you tell someone they look well, it's basically telling them they don't look unwell. In other words, you've just told them they don't look sick.

"Good" is the proper grammar in that instance...

[Tafiti]

5. Hmmmm....

...never thought that people confused the two. I don't think I've ever heard someone do that, but I could see it happening.

[Drunken Irishman]

9. I've only heard "you look well" when someone has been sick, is sick or about to get sick.

When they're talking about their looks, as in whether they look decent, I hear "you look good" over "you look well".

[amitten]

25. I've heard "you look well" for years. It always makes me cringe

because it really sounds like you're complimenting someone who has recovered from an illness...

At the root of it are people (incorrectly) trying to use proper grammar.

[Inchworm]

3. Why are you asking? do I look sick? unhappy? about to burst in laughter?

Stock answers usually suck in my book :)

How are you doing? Glad you asked! I'm doing things unimaginable!

:D

:hi:

[Tafiti]

6. Yeah I know, but I'm lazy.

When he's asked how he's doing, a friend of mine always says, "...best day of my life."

That's kick-ass in my book.

[Heidi]

13. Inchworm! How are you?

(I only ask because you look hungover. :rofl: :spray: )

[Inchworm]

15. look !! behind you! Munsters!

:yoiks:





:) :hi:

[Heidi]

16. Nuh-uh. You cain't skeer me!

[Inchworm]

17. When you knocked..

I thought you were the candyman!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyB_1wjbc_s

:rofl:

[Heidi]

18. I took an informal poll once, and my women friends find Tim Curry incredibly sexy

as Frankenfurter. *swoon*

[Inchworm]

19. I'm not really into dudes..but

his outfit just does something for me!! lolol

:spray:

[DarkTirade]

14. Occasionally I'll say I'm feeling well.

But I usually mean that I'm feeling down in the ground and filled with water.

[Tafiti]

22. Nice.

Face down in the mainstream?

[DarkTirade]

24. I couldn't resist. :) Puns run in my gene pool.

[billyskank]

20. How are you? I am okay.

There are always alternatives.

[Tafiti]

21. Truly.

But it's the classic battle. And I find it frustrating that I have to leap over such linguistic hurdles.

If someone said "I'm okay" to me, I would take that as a signal that, in fact, they're not okay.

Does he/she want me to dig a bit deeper? :shrug:

:hi:

[billyskank]

23. You may be right.

[Deep13]

26. Grammatically, good is the better choice.

It describes the state of your health, a noun. "Well" would describe some action. How are you doing? I'm doing well. BUT it is "I'm feeling good." Again, it describes subjective feeling and not an action. "I'm feeling well," means your tactile sense is functioning properly.