ENGLISH
REFERENCE

how goes it

idiom
Meaning

An informal greeting roughly equivalent to how are you.


Origin

disputed origin

The phrase is a regular Early Modern English equivalent of how's it going (when neither progressive tenses nor do-support were obligatory). As such it could have survived through regional dialects. Nevertheless modern usage is likely a calque of German wie geht es, perhaps additionally also Dutch hoe gaat het, Danish hvordan går det, etc.

Examples
SIMPLE

Hey, how goes it today?

CONTEXTUAL

I ran into an old friend at the grocery store and asked him how goes it.

COMPLEX

After months of silence, he sent a brief message asking how goes it with my new life abroad.

Anchors to
Related idioms5entries
  1. 01

    a little of something goes a long way

    Only a small amount of something is usually required to produce a great effect.

  2. 02

    anything goes

    There are no rules or restrictions.

  3. 03

    balloon goes up

    Something exciting, risky, or troublesome begins.

  4. 04

    here goes nothing

    Indicates a lack of confidence or certainty about the activity about to be tried.

  5. 05

    make it up as one goes along

    To improvise continuously.

© 2026 English Reference