how goes it
An informal greeting roughly equivalent to how are you.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Hey, how goes it today?”
“How goes it with your new project at work?”
“I ran into an old friend at the grocery store and asked him how goes it.”
“When you walk into the office on Monday morning, it is common for your coworkers to smile and ask how goes it.”
“After months of silence, he sent a brief message asking how goes it with my new life abroad.”
disputed origin
The phrase appears as a regular Early Modern English equivalent of "how’s it going," originating at a time when neither progressive tenses nor do-support were obligatory in the language. While the construction could have survived into the present through regional dialects, modern usage is considered likely to be a calque of the German *wie geht es*.
The expression may additionally draw from the Dutch *hoe gaat het* or the Danish *hvordan går det*. Though the specific path of its re-entry into standard English remains unproven, it mirrors a variety of Germanic forms that treat one's well-being as a matter of how things are currently proceeding.
- 01
a little of something goes a long way
Only a small amount of something is usually required to produce a great effect.
- 02
anything goes
There are no rules or restrictions.
- 03
balloon goes up
Something exciting, risky, or troublesome begins.
- 04
here goes nothing
Indicates a lack of confidence or certainty about the activity about to be tried.
- 05
make it up as one goes along
To improvise continuously.
Last updated August 10, 2026