I talk on the phone at my job all day, every day. Something that peeves my pet is when a southern caller who didn’t hear something asks me to repeat myself. This only happens from callers with VERY drawly southern accents, which I tend to dislike already. Instead of saying “Excuse me?” or “Can you please repeat that?” they say “Do what now?” And it comes out as “Doo whuuuut nooow?”
I DIDN’T TELL YOU TO DO ANYTHING! I asked you for your name, for fark’s sake. If I was telling them to do something, then I guess I would understand this terminology. Where did it come from? Why is this so prevalent? Why don’t I have to power to smack people through the phone line? aughgughugh
It’s not bigotry to dislike the way a person’s accent sounds. I have a ton of family members with southern accents, and grew up listening to country music. I freaking hate that twang, but it doesn’t make me a bigot.
My cousins did the “do what now?” thing and it drove me nuts. It just sounds really rude to me. “Wicked pissah” used to bug me, but I don’t hear it much anymore.
Pittsburghers say some absolutely absurd things, but one nonsense expression that makes me absolutely crazy is “I just sat there” It’s used only almost exclusively by people with thick accents (so, really, it’s “I jus’ sat dere”). And it has virtually nothing to do with sitting.
Example (written in Pittsburghese):
I was walkin’ dahn the street’n I ran inta my ex. I’as gittin’ ready to say hey, but she walked right past me. Can yinz believe’at? Like she don’t know me. She prolly hates me. I din’t care. I jus’ sat dere and kep’ walkin’ too.
I feel your pain…I actually kind of enjoy different regionalisms but there are limits. And yes, “southern speak” does grate on one after awhile. Worst of all is when it’s deliberately exagerated or when someone “puts on” a hillbilly accent to try to sound country. Years ago I had a buddy that would do this…he claimed it helped him meet women:dubious: I was kind of dubious about his claim and for that matter, the type of women that would fall for it.
Larry the cable guy is one of my pet peeves…the guy is from Nebraska for og’s sake! His “suthern twang” is strictly a put-on and doesn’t do a thing for me.
I used to have a co-worker from Oklahoma who had developed the hyper-annoying habit of ending nearly every sentence with “if’n ya know what ah mean”. Spending a day with him used to drive me up a wall…and to make matters worse I’d even catch myself doing it:smack:
SS
Speaking of Pittsburghisms that have metastasized (and I know this has been covered elsewhere here recently), an oncologist (a presumably educated person) came by my office yesterday to get a biopsy diagnosis, and told me the patient “needs treated”. This usage needs eliminated, and salt sown on its grave.
Give me good ol’ homogenized decent grammar any day.
Rural Oklahomans can have very thick accents, but in my thirty-five years of living there, I have to admit that I never heard one of them use that phrase except maybe in jest. The “if’n” part sounds more Appalachian or Ozark. And, yes, I can see how that would get old after a while.
I have a coworker who tries explaining things to me, but trips over her own words, then tries to clarify by asking if I know what she means. And I never do.
“This document has to have, um, what do you call those thingies, with the doohickies on them, and the whatchamacallits next to the, um… Know what mean?”
A while back, all the kids were saying “Wha’ happen?” when they wanted you to repeat something. But they pronounced “happen” funny, like “hoppin”. I don’t know where it came from. But almost as soon as it arrived, it was gone.
The Northwestern (Central CA & up) term “hella” (analogous to the Northeastern term “wicked”) used to annoy the crap out of me. I’ve made my peace with it in recent years, though, and even use it from time to time.
No, I didn’t ask them to do something. When people call me, they’re asking me to do something for them (namely, file an insurance claim), not vice-versa. Specifically, I would say “What is your name, sir/madam/alien species?” not “Can you give me your name?” I can’t file an insurance claim if they don’t give their name, so it’s not an optional question and I don’t phrase it like I can enter an optional answer. That’s too wishy-washy. (you insisted on getting technical so I brought on the pedantry, otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered)
Unless their name is Do What, I don’t want to hear that freaking phrase.
Oh and the reason I didn’t say “fucking” was because this isn’t the pit, and it’s really not a huge deal. I don’t set ants on fire over this issue. Just a pet peeve.