I've haven't had time to blog this week as I'm the host at Jungle Red Writers, (www.jungleredwriters.com) where we have been having a travel week with our most memorable experiences, worst experiences etc. Tomorrow it's memorable travel meals so do come on over and add yours."
But I do have time today for a short gripe. It's about current slang/phrases/topical parlance that annoys me. I've had a couple of restaurant experiences recently where the wait person has really bugged me. At one place the server was trying so hard to seem willing that she said "Absolutely" to everything we said.
"Could we have some more bread?"
"Absolutely!"
And I'd like the crawfish please."
"Absolutely!"
This was cute to begin with but seven hundred absolutelys lately we were ready to hit her.
And the other waitperson experience was the opposite. Everything we asked for was "No problem."
I felt like saying, "It should be no problem for you because HEY IT'S YOUR JOB! "
I felt much the same when "have a nice day" first appeared. Nobody really wanted me to have a nice day. Nobody cared if I was about to have a tooth pulled or a mammogram. It was just the current expression.
So which expressions bug you?
I HATE being addressed as "You guys" (or in certain parts of Canada, where I'm from, "youse guys"), especially if we are at a nice restaurant. It just seems so off-handed and familiar.
ReplyDeleteAwesome. Everything is awesome. Aren't there any other words in the dictionary to describe something wonderful?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you - "no problem" drives me up a wall. I have heard it spoken when there has definitely been a problem. And witnessed consequences that could have been avoided. So the no problem pushes a particular button with me.
ReplyDeleteOn a separate peeve - I have a friend who hates it when people say "like" all the time. Whenever I am with her I cannot help saying like. And I never do that with anyone else. Is it a form of tourettes?
Both 'like' and 'you know' are a lazy way of making time while the speaker decides what to say next. My granddaughter started saying like after she started school and her dad fined her a dime for every time she used it. She soon stopped.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear people complain out loud about "no problem." I have noticed in New York lately that it is becoming the standard response to "Thank you." You say mildly, "Thank you," and the other person says, "No problem." A substitute for "You're welcome" perhaps. But essentially meaningless in the context of thanks.
ReplyDeleteI'm not keen on "It is what it is." Of course it is what it is, what else would it be? But I hear people say that a lot.
ReplyDelete