My late father-in-law, who lived to be 104 and was a veteran of the Dunkirk evacuation and the north Africa war, would inevitably respond to the question “How are you?” (Letters, 23 December) with an enigmatic “Surviving. That’s the name of the game.” The dialogue is now used regularly by members of the family in fond memory of his fortitude.
Ray Woodhams
Cawthorne, South Yorkshire
• Re the unwanted health inquiry, as someone in my ninth decade, I’ve taken to asking “How long have you got?”
Roger Wilkinson
Leasgill, Cumbria
• When my friends ask me how I am, I always reply “No better.” The alternative, often deployed by my friend Alan, is “Bad as I am, better than you.”
John Young
Monkswood, Monmouthshire
• Many years ago when living in the East Midlands I learned that “Not so bad” meant you were fine, “Not so good” meant you were quite poorly, and “Pretty middling” meant that you were unlikely to last the night.
Florence Challands
London
• As the ageing – 81-year-old – daughter of an Aberdonian parent, my response to “How are you?” is “I’m haudn thegither”. Sadly, living in North Yorkshire, this often requires translation to “I’m holding together”.
Jennifer Williamson
Richmond, North Yorkshire
• In response to the ubiquitous northern greeting “Hellohowareyou?”, my nonagenarian neighbour replies “Good in parts!”
Nicola Campbell
Macclesfield, Cheshire
• “Fair to miserable” and “Nobbut middling” are two typical Yorkshire replies.
James Vickers
Redcar, North Yorkshire
• When asked how she was, our Hungarian grandmother would invariably reply “Vy you esk?”
Alan Sekers
London
• At the age of 88, my response to the question is “Still above ground”.
Mike Peacock
East Meon, Hampshire
• Wasn’t Oscar Wilde’s definition of a bore one who, when asked “How are you?”, tells you.
Rob Davies
Pontesbury, Shropshire
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