看了这么多年美剧，开口用英语打招呼，你是不是还是只会“How are you?”
那你的美剧就白看了！今天的主题是常用见面用语。
先来看一段美剧《绝望的主妇》中的片段热热身：
背景简介：神父 Sykes 来看Bree经营的流浪汉餐厅如何。【B=Bree S= Sykes】
B: Reverend Sykes. What a nice surprise! 赛克斯神父，这真是个惊喜！
S: That‘s quite a crowd out front. I practically had to fight my way in.门口人真多。我几乎是使劲挤进来的。
B: Well, ever since I took over the kitchen, we‘ve been jam-packed. Thank you so much for suggesting I get involved. I have never felt more needed or important in my whole life.自从我接手厨房，我们这里变得非常拥挤。谢谢你让我参与到这件事里来。我一生都没有这么被需要过。
S: The intention of charity is not to make us feel important.慈善的目的不是要让我们感到自己很重要。
B: Of course not. It‘s to help people. Feeling important is just a bonus. So what brings you by?当然不是。慈善是为了帮助他人，感觉自己重要不过是个福利。什么风把您吹来了？
S: I was hoping you could tell me where a homeless person could get a hot meal.我希望你能告诉我流浪汉们哪里能吃到一顿热饭。
B: Well, right here. Of course.当然是这里了。
S: No, Bree. Ever since you‘ve turned this soup kitchen into a bisque kitchen, the homeless don‘t feel comfortable here.不，布里。自从你把清汤厨房变成浓汤厨房之后，流浪汉觉得待这里不舒服。
B: why? I was just trying to make this place special.为什么？我只是想让这地方特别些。
S: It was already special. It was home for them, until you took that away.这地方本来就很特别。这里本来是他们的家，直到被你夺走。
在这个片段中，Bree 是在什么情况下用到 “What brings you by?” 的呢？
起初见到赛克斯神父，他说的是“What a nice surprise!”见到您可真是个惊喜呀！ 语气中带有奉承之意，因为是神父介绍他到这个慈善活动中来的，所以他要表现出自己的热情和感激。
但当神父否定了他的“做慈善是为了让自己感到重要”的观点之后，他多少感到尴尬，心里对神父的态度也开始发生转变，于是用“是什么风把您吹来的？”这样的话来为自己打圆场，同时打探神父来此的真实目的。
这样是不是更清楚地理解了这个短语的使用语境？
根据2002年由麦格劳希尔出版的《美国英语习语与动词短语词典》的表述：What brings you here/by? 其实就是在问：What is your reason for being here? (A polite request for this information. More polite than "Why are you here?")我们再来看两个例子：Tom: Hello, Mary. What brings you here?Mary: I was invited, just like you.Doctor: Well, John, what brings you here?John: I‘ve had this cough for nearly a month, and I think it needs looking into.
除了“what brings you here?”这个表达，我们还可以从美剧中发掘更多的地道打招呼的方式：1. How was your day? 你今天过得怎么样？2. How are you doing? 你最近好吗？3. How‘s everything going? 一切还好吗？4. It‘s a beautiful day! 今天天气真不错！5. What‘s up? 还好吗？6. Anything new? 有新消息吗？7. Same as ever. 一如既往。8. Everything seems to be all right. 一切看起来都挺好。
学完今天的内容，以后打招呼的时候就可以根据情况灵活变通啦，不要永远都是 “How are you?”“I‘m fine, thank you and you?”啦！