I don’t know about that. I think of “I am the Lord your God” as the original YTMND.
I have heard it in coal-cracker country in PA. (although it would be the floor needs warshed."
Hmm. I still think that it is all Germany’s fault, since she and her family are from Los Angeles. And I do count my blessings that there is no R in their ‘washed’. I thought that it was an acceptable way of constructing the sentence in German, perhaps also in Gaelic?
I have a coworker who does this. I hate it.
That might be the Pennsylvania Dutch influence?
That doesn’t make any sense.
Floors need swept and mopped, not washed.
Or warshed.
Sometimes scrubbed.
I think I first heard it used by Garrison Keillor in one of his Lake Woebegone bits. Made me think it was an Upper Midwest thing. Judging by this thread, it looks like they’ve got some competition though.
deleted.
Him, he gets it.
We had a Pit thread on the same topic just a couple of months ago. I can’t search for it because the words are too common. Ever since then, I notice “not so much” every time somebody uses it, and it’s starting to bug the hell out of me.
So stop using it, people. Your lives do revolve around not bugging Freddy the Pig, don’t they?
Well, if they don’t, they should.
Fuck! I’m guilty of this one. I hate when I’m guilty of something that I know damn well is annoying. To my credit, I can only remember doing it once, and I immediately regretted it. Never again, Bwana Bob, do you you hear me? I vow it shalt not happen again!
Eh . . . not so much.
(I’m sorry, really I am . . . it was just hanging out there . . .)
OP here.
I live in a largely Jewish area on Long Island, yet I never hear this construct in real life; I only see it in print.
However, I think Labelless hit it on the head; the Mad About You/Friends connection. These were two shows I despised. This is where my anger comes from.
Okay, it WAS just hanging out there, but a proper use of the “…not so much” contains elements of unfortunate or understated irony and (often) self-deprecation. It’s Jewish humor, after all.
“My hair dye came out great. My biopsy results, not so much.”
It is a 'burgh thing, and guess who settled large portions of Pittsburgh?
Scotts and Germans! You’re all correct - group hug!
(I was not aware of this quirk, my usage of it, and/or its incorrectness until I was 23yrs old and it was pointed out to me by a coworker.)
Really? 'Cause I’m hearing Judd Hirsch playing someone’s dad saying it…
I use it on occasion in tribute to Borat, who I could’ve sworn used it in the bit where he asked the old south guy if the black butler was his slave, but now I think I may be in error.
This also drives me completely batshit bonkers because more and more people seem to be doing it, and it also seems to be combined with other stuff that makes them sound like functionally illiterate troglodytes, especially in emails, to wit: “Please be advised that teh database needs updated and you are responsible for maintance you own entires.” [sic]
That was from one of my managers, no less, who tried to claim on my last review that I have “communication problems” because I “speak over” others. Which does not mean that I interrupt – though I do – but that I use 50¢ words when nickel ones will do, I guess. 'Scuse me for wanting to actually use my college education for something.
Now if we mix this with a verbified noun, I think we can come up with an e-mail message that breaks brand new barriers in annoyance. I’m thinking:
Please be advisd that teh locatz need cheezburgerd for starters.
Haha. I actually speak fluent lolcat – totally ironically, of course, clever hipster that I think I am – and I seriously considered sending a reply that said something like:
"o hai! ur gramr, it stinkz. propr inglesh, let meh sho u sum. i can has ur jorb plz? kthxbai!"
But along with spelling and mechanics, my overlords are also a bit lacking in the “understanding sarcasm” and “operational sense of humor” departments.