How to reply to 'How are you?' like a typical Russian! (VIDEO)

– Привет! Как дела?

– Hi, how are you?

What would an American answer to this question? Probably something like: “I'm great. How are you?”

BUT Russians would never say that. Because saying “things are amazing” invites bad luck.

So then what do Russians say? They tell the truth!

– Да, всё нормально (“Everything is okay”)

“Нормально” (with the soft L) literally means “I’m normal”.

Or another classic:

– Всё в порядке (“Things are in order”)

Or maybe

– Да ничего (“Nothin’s goin’ on, man”)

But after you hear these nice neutral answers, you'll probably hear something like: “У меня вообще-то нет денег” (“I am actually out of money”, “жена заболела” (“My wife got sick”), “вчера я опоздал на работу” (“I was late for work yesterday”), “все меня ругали” (“Everyone scolded me”), “всё плохо, всё ужасно (“Everything is bad, everything is terrible”)....

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