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Johnson13 Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

what/how do you call it

context: A is looking at a strange-looking dog. B has a conversation with A.

A: How do you call it?
B: A musher.

I don't think it's correct English. A asks HOW, so the corresponding answer should be I CALL IT BY THE NAME MUSHER, where BY THE NAME MUSHER is an adverbial, corresponding to the question word HOW. Do any native English speakers find the conversation natural?
  

Top answer

The natural question to get a name is ' eg What do you call it? eg What's its name? ', you might get a humorous answer like eg I call it very carefully , because it often bites me.

— Clive

  • The natural question to get a name is ' eg What do you call it?
  • eg What's its name?
  • ', you might get a humorous answer like eg I call it very carefully , because it often bites me.
  • Clive
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3 Answers
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The natural question to get a name is '
eg What do you call it?
eg What's its name?

If you say the odd-sounding 'How do you call it?', you might get a humorous answer like
eg I call it very carefully
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Thanks.

So you think 'How do you call it' is unacceptable in all circumstances?

If not, could you give me some examples? I've googled it, but I don't know whether they are used by native speakers.
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If you want to find out the dog's name. don't say 'How do you call it?'

Clive
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