#お元気ですか? (twitter:di mrt 30 07:41:54 CEST 2010)
tomoakiyama We don’t usually say this! RT @ispeakjapanese: Japanese phrase of the day: お元気ですか? (ogenki desu ka?) = How are you?
http://bit.ly/9Olr4c
gakuranman @tomoakiyama Am guessing the phrase to substitute in that situation would be something like: 今日は寒いですね!
tomoakiyama @gakuranman Yes, it’s ritualistic. We would take 元気 questions literally - ‘why is this person interested in my health?’
gakuranman @tomoakiyama What would you say to a friend who you haven’t seen for: 3 days, 5 days, 7 days, 14 days? Wondering how your greeting changes.?
tomoakiyama @gakuranman It depends on how often I espect to see the friend but I do say 久しぶり!元気? after about a couple of months.
gakuranman @tomoakiyama So what would you say to a friend when you call them or meet them after a few days?
tomoakiyama @gakuranman No particular greeting expression. I can only think of ‘[name of the friend]!’ ‘あ、ごめん。待った?’ ‘飯食った?’ ‘どこ行こうか。’ ‘もしもし、俺だけど(phone)’
tomoakiyama @gakuranman lol conversely in the US I first wondered why a grocery cashier would be interested in my health.