How’s it going? is an extremely common Australian saying. I use it at least half-a-dozen times a day, whenever I’m meeting someone for the first time. This is when the saying is most commonly used. If my phone rings and I look at it and see that it’s my friend Chris who is calling, I’ll pick up the phone and say:
G’day Chris, how’s it going?
Which actually sounds more like:
Gidday Chris, owzitgoen?
How’s it going? is one of those sayings which is really important in starting conversations, like ca va in France, alright in England or genki in Japan. The it in the middle probably refers to life; there’s another Australian greeting which goes How’s life treating you? (Howz life treatin’ ya?) which basically means the same thing.
It’s similar to when people ask how are you?. When someone says how’s it going?, they don’t want to hear your life story, they might not even care how you are. The saying is automatic, like a reflex or a ritual, and the reply should be the same. There are many different ways to answer, and most Australians will have their personal preference. Some of the most standard replies are:
Not bad
Alright
Pretty good
Can’t complain
Good
And each of these might have mate or yeah attached to either the beginning or the end. So the beginning of my conversation with Chris might sound like this:
Me: G’day Chris, how’s it going?
Chris: Yeah, not bad, mate.
And now that Chris and I have completed the conversation ritual, we’re ready to actually start talking to each other. Chris lives in Perth at the moment, so we usually have a lot of catching up to do.
But sometimes Chris might be feeling really good, or really bad. In these situations he might want to break the ritual and tell me person exactly how he feels, and why. The purpose of his call might be to tell me about how he feels. This is where the word actually is very useful:
Me: G’day Chris, how’s it going?
Chris: Actually… not so good.
Me: Really? What’s up? (What’s wrong?)
Or:
Chris: Actually… pretty good.
Me: Oh yeah? How come? (Why?)
For English learners in Australia, understanding how the locals talk can be one of the most difficult things. The best advice is to try using Australian slang yourself. So get down to the pub, buy a VB, and try out your best Australian accent!
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