What's the news?

In Rwanda a common greeting is "Amakuru?". It means "Whats the news?", and the answer is always "Ni meza" meaning "Good news".

At first I though this was ridiculous. I mean you can't always have good news can you? All the time?

But now I have come to realise that people in Britain are not too different. For example, if asked "how are you?" in the following situations the answer by many British people would probably be along these lines:


Feeling fine: "I'm fine"
Feeling crap: "I'm fine"
Won the lottery: "I'm great"
Depressed: "I'm fine"
Feeling really fine: "I'm fine"

Parents have died: "I'm fine"

Of course, if a British person is asked whether or not they would like a cup of tea, the answer is invariably an enthusiastic "Yes please!"