在一次课上，小胡同学问我，how about和what about在用法上有什么区别。我说，让我查一下再回答你。我查阅了赵振才先生的《英语语法常见问题详解》，上面说可以混用。但这不足以解答学生的疑问，所以我又咨询了合肥师范学院的曹军教授，曹教授十分热心，给了我以下的回复，在思路上给了我很大的启发，在此表示感谢。

How about:to suggest an action and to open possibilities:

e.g:

A:I've got the day off from work tomorrow.What should we do?

B:How about spending the day in the city?

A:Nah.I don't really feel like traveling?

B:How about we clean the house?

A:No way. I want to do something fun.

B:OK.How about doing some shopping and then seeing a movie?

A:Hmm...that sounds good.

我觉得，在建议的这个范畴内，what about和how about是可以混用的。但是，凡事总存在边际，以下是不同之处：

Use 'what about' to mention an objection or a potential problem

A:Let's spend the weekend in the city!

B:But what about my guitar lesson on Saturday?

A:That's no problem,just talk with the teacher and reschedule it.

B:And what about the English test on Monday?I haven't studied yet.

A:You can study on Sunday night when we get back.

大概在这里，what about就类似汉语中的“如之奈何”。