The Dutch have their semi-annoying quasi-obligatory social customs, too. "Eet smakelijk," for example, is the Dutch version of the ubiquitous European "enjoy your meal" — and within a certain range of encounters, one pretty much has to say it.

And, anyhow, the Dutch have "hoe gaat het," or "how goes it?" — though it's neither as automatic nor as expected as the English "how are you;" nor does its use request a comforting patter of small-talk, which is generally unnecessary in Holland.

Sometimes it might just seem to the Anglophone that the Dutch person's response to the unconsidered "how are you" is dismissive, when in fact it's not.

In the Dutch language, one might ask somebody "gaat het?" which literally translates as "goes it?" This question would generally be asked of an acquaintance and means, approximately, "are you doing okay?" The affirmative response would be "ja, goed."

The response "yeah, good," to the English-language "how are you" can feel dissonant; curt or even slightly rude.