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The answer to the question “Everything good with you?” is often not easy. Many people wonder whether they should answer honestly if all is not well and how elaborate the reply may be. Either way, there are several ways to answer this question.
“All is well with you?”: Answer to phrase wanted
“Everything good with you?” is a question often asked by a boss, colleague, friend or mother. Often the expression is used as a phrase, only rarely does the questioner expect an honest and detailed answer.
- The problem: “Are you all right?” is a closed question that only allows two answers: “Yes” or “No”. People are reluctant to answer the latter – especially to their boss or colleagues. So the answer is formulated as vaguely and positively as possible.
- What should you say in response to the phrase? That depends entirely on the situation and the relationship with the questioner. If everything is fine or you don’t want to talk about problems with your boss or someone you are not that close to, you can reply “It’s fine”, “Yes and you?” or “Yes, everything’s fine so far”.
- If you want to be honest, you can also answer that not everything is good. For example, “The project is costing me a lot of time right now” or “I’m annoyed/stressed.” In this case, leave it up to the person you are talking to to decide whether they are satisfied with this or whether they ask what is going on out of honest interest.
- You can, on the other hand, answer a trusted person honestly and also in more detail if you are not feeling well.
