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adverbs - What is the precise meaning of "Pretty Good"?


Once I used "pretty good" as a reply to one of my friends' question "How are you today?", I was under the impression that the "pretty good" will weigh much more than just "good", means "very good" or "awesome".


But after a quick conversation with her, I got to know that "pretty good" has a flavor of sarcastic, thus it might mean "what a busy day!" or "Too busy to be good." in that specific context.


Is that a good practice to reply with "pretty good" to the question "How are you?", and expecting no sarcastic meaning conveyed?


If the answer is no, then can I use "pretty good" if I had got a sore throat for all day long?




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