"How'd I come here?" vs "How did I come here?"

Question

I found a related post here but I'm still confused and not sure whether it's correct to use "How'd I come here?".

When search in google I got only about 11 results for "How'd I come here?", but I got about 200 results for "How did I come here?". Why is that? Because this I think "How'd I come here?" is not correct or not acceptable in correct English.

But looking at the other post I mentioned, it seems it's correct and common to say "How'd I come here?". Google doesn't agree with that. What am I missing?

Answer 1

As Tyler James Young says in his comment, it would be more common to ask, "How did you get here?" rather than come, and starting your response with the rhetorical question "How'd I get here?" is perfectly natural in casual conversation.

If you were talking about a position/status in life, you'd say something like, "How did I come to be the vice president at the age of 28?" and I think "How'd" would work in informal conversation. If you were talking about a place where you reside (rather than a restaurant or a party, where you recently arrived), you'd also use come to as in "How did I come to live here?"

Since the question is rhetorical (I think that's the proper term, since it's a device rather than an actual question for your listener), "How did" sounds like it's the best overall answer. The dynamics of starting your answer to a question with a question feels more comfortable with a longer answer.