Asking about one's affairs

Question

What is the difference between the following statements?

1. How is your son?
2. How is your son getting on?
3. How is your son doing?

Answer 1

For many if not most contexts, all three are equivalent and interchangeable.

But #1 and #3 would probably be more likely if, for example, the context was one where the son was known to have recently been hospitalised (speaker is concerned about the son's current state of health).

And #2 might be more likely if the son recently embarked on a major "life-changing" course (he got married, took up a new job, etc.) where the default expectation would be that things would go well.

---

Essentially, #1 is the standard "minimalist" form, most often used as a "platitudinous" enquiry. That's like, for example, Howdy = How do you do?, where the speaker really doesn't expect you to give a full account of your health, mental outlook, etc. It may merely indicate polite "pseudo-interest".

And at least in some contexts, there could be a tendency for How is she getting on? to imply the speaker expects to be told that her life in general is progressing smoothly. As opposed to How is she doing?, which could imply that she's known to be at some risk of being very ill indeed (or that some other dire circumstances may have befallen her).