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

[Paul Frank]

> Of Tim Frazer
> 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.

Although I imagine that Spanish grammar lies beyond the ambit of this list,
let me just say that Spanish schoolmarms, precisians, and grammarians would
never accept "bueno" in response to ¿como estás?. However, the strange
question ¿como eres? (what are you like?) might elicit a laconic reply of
"bueno" (I'm [a] good [person]). I'm a native speaker of Spanish, in case
you're wondering.

Oh, and I say shit, shat, shat. Then again, to me the plural of spouse is
spice so don't take my word for it.

Paul
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Paul Frank
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