Maybe the lady in question particularly hates the question and has been bothered by it for a while, hence her outburst. Its a Nigerian thing but seriously, if you must ask, ask your close family or friends the question.

aribisala0:

No need to ask Professors they do not create Languages and a phrase or word exists the moment it has several subscribers. It might be annoying but it does "EXIST" and we need to we wary of the Colo Mentality that prescribes language being disseminated from the top down. Languages NEVER stand still and keep evolving.Take the word GAY for example it means something completely different today and those so called PROFESSORS had to surrender to the change.

Just as they resent What's up,What's cooking,popping etc those are all recognizable forms of greeting. Language is a servant not a Master and its users always change it to meet their needs.

By the way ,, How was ya last nite??

God bless u jare.. Na by Prof?

It matters in some cultures! In France, it is not well perceived, because its considered very personal. Many things happen in the night; good, bad, permissible and forbidden

dmcdad:

Slangs and Jargons are part of the english language. Do u know that? Buh they are not accepted in formal settings. That could apply here too. U can say it shouldn't be used in formal settings buh that doesn't make it entirely wrong. Don't you agree?

Indeed it is not entirely wrong since the English language is a mix of different languages and slangs but it is more appropriate between
people who are not ordinary colleagues.

I personally don't use it because think its a bit wrong.

But if asked, a simple "fine thanks" works. no need to give any details.

One thing to try is to translate it to your own language and see how it sounds.

Yoruba would be "Bawo ni ale yin" doesnt sound right....

oyedun82: MR A: HW WAS YOUR NIGHT?

ME: I SLEPT SO I DONT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO MY NIGHT.

and what if 911 occure that night

Even "how was your day?"(where presumably good things happen) is still quite familiar and one has to gauge whether such familiarity actually exists in reality

angel106: Hello my dear nairalanders, can you kindly contribute to the topic. A colleague of mine came to work and was pissed at the response she got when she innocently greeted a friend and asked her "How was your night?".

The friend flared up and asked her to stop asking her such question, that why would she want to know how her night was? That why was she interested in knowing what she did with her husband .

Na wetin concern dead body with overload?

To me, it is just a simple remark of knowing that you had a good night rest without troubles. But i can be wrong, so my dears....you have the floor.

Thanks.

though your colleague over-reacted; she must have been angered by someone or something else
but the appropriateness of the expression given the context (domain, culture, closeness of the parties involved, etc) just might be questioned.
this, owing to the fact that the meaning is ambiguous and therefore, could be misinterpreted; hence a reaction.

i understand that for the Germans, you don't ask the question, "how was your night?" because it immediately raises a feeling of fear, suspicion, and uncertainty for what could possibly have happened (the night before) without their being consciously aware of it, which could have been caused by many factors.
for them, it is more tolerable to say, "Hast du gut geschlafen?" - to mean, "did u rest/sleep well?".
be that as it may, i still think your colleague simply blew it out of proportion.

just to make an addition, i personally feel that Nigerians use language recklessly. many times, people say things they absolutely do not understand or know its implications. what one can do is to try to understand by making excuses for them.

.

TimePiece:

though your colleague over-reacted; she must have been angered by someone or something else
but the appropriateness of the expression given the context (domain, culture, closeness of the parties involved, etc) just might be questioned.
this, owing to the fact that the meaning is ambiguous and therefore, could be misinterpreted; hence a reaction.

i understand that for the Germans, you don't ask the question, "how was your night?" because it immediately raises a feeling of fear, suspicion, and uncertainty for what could possibly have happened (the night before) without their being consciously aware of it, which could have been caused by many factors.
for them, it is more tolerable to say, "Hast du gut geschlafen?" - to mean, "did u rest/sleep well?".
be that as it may, i still think your colleague simply blew it out of proportion.

just to make an addition, i personally feel that Nigerians use language recklessly. many times, people say things they absolutely do not understand or know its implications. what one can do is to try to understand by making excuses for them.

I agree with this... context, domain, culture.

But then again, with language, something that is ordinarily wrong, but is widely used will eventually become "right" to people.

If I may digress a bit, I recall learning french in primary school and "Bon apres midi" was considered a greeting then.

When I tried using it at Uni many years later, I was told that is was wrong

flops:

Indeed it is not entirely wrong since the English language is a mix of different languages and slangs but it is more appropriate between
people who are not ordinary colleagues.

I personally don't use it because think its a bit wrong.

But if asked, a simple "fine thanks" works. no need to give any details.

One thing to try is to translate it to your own language and see how it sounds.

Yoruba would be "Bawo ni ale yin" doesnt sound right....

you wont stop there "se e sun daada?"
Something not well might happen that night. . .maybe having cold or headache

It's a simple,polite and harmless question, but with all the tension in many marriages and the pretence to make everything look so peaceful and wonderful to outsiders, such a reaction as that of your colleague cannot be ruled out.
"How was your night?" is even milder than "Did you sleep well?"
There's nothing wrong with being polite but when dealing with an emotionally stressed person or living in a society where false pretence is the order of the day, always expect the unexpected.

dmcdad:

It's just a question.. And that's why it comes after any form of greeting. Can u see someone in the morning and the first thing to emanate from your mouth is "how was ur 9t?" without the usual greeting? Surely u must have greeted each other first

nonsence!So it is not a greeting , it is a question and after we finished greeting each other you still want to know how my night was? So sorrry but it doesnt make sense to me at all.

flops:

Indeed it is not entirely wrong since the English language is a mix of different languages and slangs but it is more appropriate between
people who are not ordinary colleagues.

I personally don't use it because think its a bit wrong.

But if asked, a simple "fine thanks" works. no need to give any details.

One thing to try is to translate it to your own language and see how it sounds.

Yoruba would be "Bawo ni ale yin" doesnt sound right....

@bold... That was why I said "formal settings"

If u wanna talk about native language interpretations, u'll agree with me that most translations are not really correct cuz our native languages lack certain ingredients that makes up a language. Take for instance, in our languages, verbs dont change from present to past or vice-versa. Ex: I went to the Church, yesterday & I will go to the Church for prayerz. Plz, translate these statements to yoruba. The essence of this is to let you knw that, the verbs "go/went" will maintain "ló" in yoruba. That is to say, u can seldom get the actual translation when dealing with our native languages. Don't you agree with me?

tintingz: you wont stop there "se e sun daada?"
Something not well might happen that night. . .maybe having cold or headache

Se e sun daada... exactly.. that is "did you sleep well"

But surely you can ask your dad, mom, brother, sister, cousin who lives in the same house with you
Se e sun daada.

But would you ask your mechanic or stylist or the security guard at your office?

context and culture.

Even though I don't do It, to me it's the same as asking someone, how was your day?

I think the question is dumb. I once had a white boss. And people on the construction site always greet each other with " How was your night?" So trying to be friendly with the oyinbo man who happens to be the chief site engineer I greeted him "Good morning" then "How was ur night" and his reply made me feel so stupid. He smiled and replied " Good morning.. Well I can really know how my nite was because it was night and I slept all through it" What I should have asked was "Hope you slept well" , " How is your family" or even a simple " How is everything". Nigeria and unnecessary drama sha.

12 inches!:
I think the question is dumb. I once had a white boss. And people on the construction site always greet each other with " How was your night?" So trying to be friendly with the oyinbo man who happens to be the chief site engineer I greeted him "Good morning" then "How was ur night" and his reply made me feel so stupid. He smiled and replied " Good morning.. Well I can really know how my nite was because it was night and I slept all through it" What I should have asked was " How is your family" or even a simple " How is everything". Nigeria and unnecessary drama sha.

The most idiotic response so far?? What does being white have to do with anything .Oyinbo talk am e must be so. Colonial nebbish!

aribisala0:
The most idiotic response so far?? What does being white have to do with anything .Oyino talk am e must be so. Colonial nebbish!

What I'm trying to say he is that he is white and didn't understand the question. It's like a Nigerian thing that doesn't make too much sense.

U b winsh? Wetn u wan kari dr nyt do? Abi u wan chek if ur covun plan work?

nagoma:

nonsence!So it is not a greeting , it is a question and after we finished greeting each other you still want to know how my night was? So sorrry but it doesnt make sense to me at all.

WTF! Do u regard that as a greeting? Like 4 real? Jeez! Thats way too lame. Which means "how was ur day?" would be regarded as a greeting, right? C'mon! Dnt be so naive

I never thought about it like this. I've never really liked the question though I don't think there's anything wrong with it. Maybe the woman cheated on her husband the night before and her concience is pricking her so she didn't want anybody to remind her of the incident....if not I think it's quite unnecessary for anyone to read meaning into a question as simple as that..

"How was your Night" to many other people from the outside world(outside Nigeria) is viewed as a very personal question.
i once had an Indian Boss whose wife visited our office for the first time and someone greeted her and asked how was your night
She was very furious and had to ask her husband" how much about our nights do they know?" meaning, her husband must have been telling
others what they did at night. It took so much convincing to make her understand what we truly meant with the question.

Only people that nyashed secretly or went for clandestine meeting "on top of the iroko tree at the junction by 12am" get offended by that question cos they are afraid you know their secret..

sleekshedy: Even though I don't do It, to me it's the same as asking someone, how was your day?

Exactly! If 4 any reason it's bad, then how was ur day will b bad 2

flops:

Se e sun daada... exactly.. that is "did you sleep well"

But surely you can ask your dad, mom, brother, sister, cousin who lives in the same house with you
Se e sun daada.

But would you ask your mechanic or stylist or the security guard at your office?

context and culture.

why should i be asking mechanic, stylist or a guard. . .i can only ask if i know they are not in good health. . .

12 inches!:
I think the question is dumb. I once had a white boss. And people on the construction site always greet each other with " How was your night?" So trying to be friendly with the oyinbo man who happens to be the chief site engineer I greeted him "Good morning" then "How was ur night" and his reply made me feel so stupid. He smiled and replied " Good morning.. Well I can really know how my nite was because it was night and I slept all through it" What I should have asked was "Hope you slept well" , " How is your family" or even a simple " How is everything". Nigeria and unnecessary drama sha.

If his night is none of your business, his family should also be none of your business. Dem tell you sey na every oyibo sabi English language? Talk Less the once you see on construction sites.

N_girl: I never thought about it like this. I've never really liked the question though I don't think there's anything wrong with it. Maybe the woman cheated on her husband the night before and her concience is pricking her so she didn't want anybody to remind her of the incident....if not I think it's quite unnecessary for anyone to read meaning into a question as simple as that..

No mind her.. I actually use that line buh, whenever I use it, its usually followed with "I hope u had a pleasant rest" to let u know I was concerned about ur 9t rest and no other thing.

dmcdad:

@bold... That was why I said "formal settings"

If u wanna talk about native language interpretations, u'll agree with me that most translations are not really correct cuz our native languages lack certain ingredients that makes up a language. Take for instance, in our languages, verbs dont change from present to past or vice-versa. Ex: I went to the Church, yesterday & I will go to the Church for prayerz. Plz, translate these statements to yoruba. The essence of this is to let you knw that, the verbs "go/went" will maintain "ló" in yoruba. That is to say, u can seldom get the actual translation when dealing with our native languages. Don't you agree with me?

That verbs are not transitional indicate Non-language -ness??
Sometimes when we are silent we conceal ignorance and speak to remove all doubt.
Have you ever studied language at all. What makes your language "NATIVE" ?? I weep for the black man really.
It is clear you have absolutely no knowledge of linguistics and you come here PRONOUNCING with the certainty of the ignorant. There is a world of difference between translation and transliteration and I suggest you study that. Finally all languages have their peculiarities and there are many thoughts ideas in different languages that simply cannot be translated because embedded within the language are also ideas on worldview which are often unique and this is reflected in idioms such as ; Fi owo mewa jeun(Yoruba) Transliteration = Eat with ten fingers. or the English :"raining cats and dogs" and the very Nigerian suffix "NOW" as in "Please now or give me food now" where the word now does not mean "NOW" in English

Asian languages serve their people e.g Chinese quite well and do not have these "INGREDIENTS" that you talk about.

sleekshedy:
If his night is none of your business, his family should also be none of your business. Dem tell you sey na every oyibo sabi English language? Talk Less the once you see on construction sites.

All those ones no b white oo. Whites/Caucasians are Americans and/or Europeans. All those lebanese, chinese, indians and d rest no b white o. Besides, I don chat with 1 American woman b4 wey tell me say I write english far more than halve the entire America. So c'mon, no b by white jhor

tintingz: why should i be asking mechanic, stylist or a guard. . .i can only ask if i know they are not in good health. . .

So therefore, even though there is no general consensus about the correctness or appropriateness of the questions
we can agree that the context is key.

How was your night is a traditional question asked between formal friends and family members, but asking a colleague that retardeen question is preposterous and out of order.