• PugJesus@lemmy.worldOP
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          7 days ago

          Like “Dad responses”, these are just common cliche ways for white American men to respond to questions - in this case, “How are things going?”

          In this case, the responses listed, while seemingly anodyne, are generally given out as a means of downplaying one’s own troubles - “It’s going” being “It’s going badly enough that I don’t want to talk about it in any more detail” - and “Hanging in there” being “I’m managing, but only barely.”

          So both, while not being a cause for alarm by a surface reading, are actually (commonly) given out when significantly distressed.

        • PugJesus@lemmy.worldOP
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          7 days ago

          Unfortunately, I’m not the original creator of the post; you’d have to ask them for more droll observations of common American responses (and their deeper meanings) by race.