Sp bien/bueno (was:prescriptivism, conventions, irony, and could(n't) care less

[Douglas G. Wilson]

 >I have a hard time responding to Sp "como estas?" My prescriptivist
upbringing makes me want to say "bueno" (using an adj to describe myself),
but idiomatic Sp demands "bien." For some reason I feel better if I say
"bien, y tu?" but that may have more to do self image than grammatical
categories.

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My ignorance of Spanish is very profound, but it would seem to me -- from a
"prescriptivist" position -- that "bien" is correct and "bueno" is wrong
for the same reason that in English "[I'm] well" -- not "[I'm] good" -- is
the correct answer to "How are you?". The full answer might be "Estoy bien
de salud" or something like that, and isn't "bien" considered an adjective
(like "well") in this context?

Any expert, please correct my misconceptions if necessary.

Do some Spanish speakers use something like "Estoy bueno [de salud]", the
way some English speakers say "I'm good" in this context?

-- Doug Wilson