In industrial environments — especially in automobile industry — “Mahlzeit” often simply means “hello”.

Even most Germans who are not working in such companies do not know about this.

When starting a new job in such a company they are a bit confused because they understand: “I wish you a tasteful lunch” instead of: “hello”.

The response to the greeting *Mahlzeit* differs from company to company.

In companies where *Mahlzeit* means *hello* you can simply respond with *Mahlzeit*, too.

In environments where *Mahlzeit* means “I wish you a tasteful lunch” you simply respond with “Danke”.

In a company I have worked for the response was sometimes:

> Mahl’ deine Zeit selber

(Because “Mahl’ Zeit” would mean “grind time”, so the response is “grind your time yourself”).

However you should **never** respond this way unless you are absolutely sure that this is the correct way to respond in the company you are working at!