Learn English – Is “how come” slang

slangword-usage

Sample Conversation:

A: How are you?

B: I am mad.

A: How come?

I thought that how come was a logical word choice but upon speaking with somebody for whom English is a second language, I found that they did not understand the meaning. I am wondering if using how come in this manner is a form of slang.

For some reason saying "How come you are angry?" sounds like bad grammar.

I can imagine the use of "How come, when I talk to you, you are angry?" to be correct with that added phrase in the middle.

So my question is, is using how come as in the example conversational slang?
And also is "How come you are angry?" proper English?

Best Answer

Looking in COCA, how come is very common in American English. It's used to mean why, in questions, and occasionally in statements:

How come the reporters aren't asking that?
And that's how come this song "This Land Is Your Land" became known throughout America.

If we break down the places it appears, a pattern emerges: how come is almost never used where formal writing is demanded, as in academic writing, but is frequently used where informality is okay, as in fiction dialogue and speech:

           TOTAL    SPOKEN  FICTION  MAGAZINE  NEWSPAPER   ACADEMIC
HOW COME   2689     882     1318     283       164         42

In American English, at least, how come? is informal, but probably not considered slang.

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