i've heard this from a few people but i have no clue what its supposed to mean. Someone will ask me "how's life?", and I'll mull it over for a second, but before i have a chance to answer they'll say "taking too long?". I'm not sure what that is supposed to mean. Are they subtly implying that I hate life, or would like to end myself or something? its pretty offensive if you ask me.
Depends on the person I suppose but yeah, that's crossed my mind too. Sounds like a backhanded question but context is everything.
i'm pretty sure they just got tired of saying "what's up" or "how's it going," and then when you sit and ponder their simple greeting they get confused and don't know how to react.
It's not rocket science... it's called social lubrication and what they really mean is don't make this any harder than it needs to be, just say it's fine.
As I know it in American culture, it's an innocent phrase that usually means 'how are things going for you?'
Is it just a movie quote? 'Kingpin' Roy Munson: Hey, Herb, how's life? Herbie: Taking forever. http://www.hark.com/clips/zxjdfxgygl-hey-herb-hows-life
"how's life treating you?" is literally the go-to expression round here for anyone you haven't seen in over a month. i've noticed it a lot, and used it, and had it used on me, 4-5times tonight.
The question itself does suggest that life is some simple matter we can understand. To ask "How's life?" is the same as asking you to agree that there's no mystery there. But mystery being mystery, you can answer the question however you want. Might as well make somebody's day brighter by saying "Pretty good" or something. It's not like lying and pretending to understand life is going to hurt anybody. Or is it? Should we be more concerned about the poor and the needy? Should one always answer "We've got problems"?
