# MSN - Things not to say at work. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 9, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msn-things-not-to-say-at-work/739954 "2015-12-09T15:57:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msn-things-not-to-say-at-work/739954/41 "2015-12-12T07:41:18Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Possibly the author’s idea here is that it would be better to say “Why don’t we do this…?.” or “Why wouldn’t this work…?”; as it is better to question why something _can’t_ be done than it is to assume it can’t be done. My, oh my… you’re phrasing questions negatively! Aaaaaaaaaah! Pretty much anything can be picked to death, and yet, very often what needs to be changed isn’t so much the phrasing as body language and tone of voice. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msn-things-not-to-say-at-work/739954/42 "2015-12-12T13:26:55Z")
I admit the _“No problem”_ phrase bothered me at first. I’m not so cranky about it now that it has become the norm. The one that bugs me is the constant reply of “_Perfect_” as a response. No, it’s not PERFECT, it’s just acceptable. I know, I’m an old crank. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msn-things-not-to-say-at-work/739954/43 "2015-12-12T14:53:17Z")
I dislike “no problem” mostly because it’s normally mumbled like the speaker has a mouthful of marbles. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msn-things-not-to-say-at-work/739954/44 "2015-12-12T15:05:56Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > We used to have a plant manager who imposed a $1 fine on anyone using the terms “hope”, “think”, and another one I don’t recall (“feel” or “believe”, maybe). He claimed it was because he didn’t want someone to _think_ or _hope_ that what they were stating was a fact, he wanted them to _know_ it was. The man’s an idiot (as I’m sure you’re aware). There are plenty of things you can’t know as a fact. If I ask you what the weather is going to be like three days from now, you can tell me that you think it’ll rain that day. But you can’t say you know it will rain. I used to have a co-worker who had this same mentality of insisting everything he knew was a fact. I was his boss so I didn’t have to simply accept this behavior. But it often made it more difficult to work with him because I’d have to take extra steps to make sure that what he was saying was true actually was true. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msn-things-not-to-say-at-work/739954/45 "2015-12-12T22:39:55Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > I dislike “no problem” mostly because it’s normally mumbled like the speaker has a mouthful of marbles. Perhaps they’re training themselves to have better diction, like Demosthenes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msn-things-not-to-say-at-work/739954.md?page=2)