# “Charmed, I’m sure.” Sure of what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 14, 2022, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charmed-i-m-sure-sure-of-what/973218 "2022-10-14T01:18:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charmed-i-m-sure-sure-of-what/973218/21 "2022-10-14T21:24:52Z")
I think the placement in the sentence makes the difference. “I’m sure” at the beginning is questioning; “I’m sure” at the end emphasizes. The actual words don’t matter than much. Whatever they are, at any level of formality, they’re just examples of social lubricants. English is filled with semantically meaningless noises that are inserted to acknowledge that the other person in a conversation is a social equal, not a servant. The evolution is, I believe, actually from the other direction, in which a peon would have to address a noble with “Sir/Madam” or “My Lord/Lady” or “Liege.” So the peerage, i.e. the nobles and the upper classes, would use elaborate etiquette when addressing one another to show that they were peers, i.e. equals, and not part of the rabble. Over time, the rising middle classes started imitating them and dropped in phrases of their own to show they were above the working class. The lateness of “charmed” - “Charmed (short for I am charmed) as a conventional reply to a greeting or meeting is attested by 1825.” - is an indicator that it comes from the middle and not upper classes. Americans like to pretend that they are part of a classless society. Certainly true that we never had an actual nobility, but the middle class that rose in the 19th century copied huge amounts of British social conventions. The form of the mouthnoises keeps changing over time but their reason is fixed in the language. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charmed-i-m-sure-sure-of-what/973218/22 "2022-10-14T21:37:14Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The correct reply would be “good” or “fine” or the equivalent I always go with “Wonderful!” ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charmed-i-m-sure-sure-of-what/973218/23 "2022-10-14T22:20:42Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > Or… > _My name is Sue, ♫ > How do you do?"_ Cosmic Charlie how do you do? Truckin in style along the avenue ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charmed-i-m-sure-sure-of-what/973218/24 "2022-10-14T23:19:33Z")
I was in a production of _Annie Get Your Gun_ in high school. My one line, upon meeting someone, was “Charmed, I’m sure.” It’s my sole contribution to the theater arts. 🙇‍♀️ ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charmed-i-m-sure-sure-of-what/973218/25 "2022-10-14T23:30:42Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > > [@RealityChuck](#): > > > > Another example is “Thank you.” You’re expected to say “You’re welcome” or some standard acknowledgement. It seems that “No problem” is becoming common right now, creating indignation among some old farts. The heart of that is that the reply is not part of the social script.\* > > I think it’s a bit more nuanced than that. If I ask my neighbor to do something for me like lend me his lawn mower, then “no problem” is more correct than ‘you’re welcome’. If I say ‘thank you’ to a cashier, then a ‘no problem’ response seems awkward. Of course there’s no problem, they’re doing their job. I haven’t potentially caused them a problem. These phrases are ultimately meaningless; they’re what you say in certain social situations. Right now, “No problem” is taking over from “You’re welcome” and there’s nothing that anyone can do about it. Logic and reasoning has little to do with it. In ten years, it may be as quaint as saying “Glad to know you” when introduced. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charmed-i-m-sure-sure-of-what/973218/26 "2022-10-14T23:49:14Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > when I was a kid (we’re talking elementary school age) people used to ask me, “What’s up?” And I’d respond, “The sky.” “What’s up?” “Opposite of down.” ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charmed-i-m-sure-sure-of-what/973218/27 "2022-10-14T23:49:38Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Am I misremembering or did Jennifer Coolidge use this phrase in _Best in Show_? Fran Fine used it in an episode of _The Nanny_ to demonstrate that she could pronounce the letter R. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2022, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charmed-i-m-sure-sure-of-what/973218/28 "2022-10-15T00:39:43Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > “What’s up?” > > “Opposite of down.” Heh, you’re a lot more clever than I was when I was 10 years old. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2022, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charmed-i-m-sure-sure-of-what/973218/29 "2022-10-15T00:48:34Z")
What’s the opposite of “'sup”? ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2022, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charmed-i-m-sure-sure-of-what/973218/30 "2022-10-15T00:56:11Z")
dns 12345 ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2022, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charmed-i-m-sure-sure-of-what/973218/31 "2022-10-15T00:57:18Z")
Hehe, is that like “snoo”? > **[National Wildlife Federation](https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/National_Wildlife_Federation)** > > National Wildlife Federation is a conservation organization that aims to inspire Americans to protect wildlife for future generations. Their print publications include the magazine Ranger Rick. Beginning in the early 1980s, the Muppets made several... > Fozzie shows Kermit his different recycling categories, which are “BOTTLES”, “CANS”, “PAPER” and “SNOO”. Kermit asks, what’s snoo? Fozzie responds with “Nothing, what’s “snoo” with you?” I still remember that TV spot over 30 years later. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2022, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charmed-i-m-sure-sure-of-what/973218/32 "2022-10-15T01:47:32Z")
You made me curious how far back that goes. [I found this from 1948](https://www.google.com/books/edition/Radio_Comedy_Diary/e_mIk6UtWJMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=what%E2%80%99s+%E2%80%9Csnoo%E2%80%9D+with+you&pg=PA50&printsec=frontcover). For those who are having kneejerk reactions to the level of comedy in the 1940s, _It Pays to Be Ignorant_ was a spoof, featuring “a board of experts who are dumber than you are and can prove it”. There’s no excuse for the rest of the quotes, though. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2022, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charmed-i-m-sure-sure-of-what/973218/33 "2022-10-15T02:15:15Z")
Holy crap but Groucho was funny. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charmed-i-m-sure-sure-of-what/973218.md?page=1)