When someone casually asks 'How are you?', how honestly do you actually answer?

A natural way to answer

It really depends on who's asking. With a stranger it's a ritual, so I trot out the standard 'fine, thanks'. But if a close friend asks and actually pauses for the answer, I'll level with them and say how I really am.

Key phrases to use

• knee-jerk — automatic and without thinking“It was a knee-jerk 'I'm fine'.”
• paper over the cracks — hide a problem instead of really dealing with it“I just papered over the cracks and smiled.”
• trot out — produce the same familiar phrase or excuse you always use“I trotted out the usual 'busy, you know how it is'.”
• level with them — be honest and tell someone how things really are“I decided to level with her about it.”