So the other night co-worker Ken called me up and invited me to join him for a refreshing beverage after work. Ken’s English is excellent, but not particularly colloquial. At some point in the evening, we had the following conversation:
| Ken: | I think I surprised Ivan the other day. He called and said “Hey, Ken, how are you?” and I answered, “Yes. What’s up?” |
| Me: | Ah, of course. See, Ivan was using a conversation opening gambit, and you didn’t follow the script properly. |
| Ken: | Huh? |
| Me: | See, Ivan wasn’t really asking how you were. He was just saying that so that you could both understand that you’re about to start having a conversation. You should have answered “Fine, Ivan, how are you?” |
| Ken: | Uh…? |
| Me: | [sigh.] Ok. Ivan said SYN and instead of saying ACK you said LSJKHSVKJ. |
| Ken: | [lightbulb goes on over Ken’s head] Aaah! |
Sigh.. Why didn’t I guess right off the bat that that would be the approach that worked…
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