# Say what you mean **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 18, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-what-you-mean/571838 "2011-02-18T19:14:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pitter\_Patter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/90db22/32.png) [@Pitter\_Patter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitter_Patter)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-what-you-mean/571838/1 "2011-02-18T19:14:22Z")
Do you know people who invariably use the phrase, “take and”, before every other verb in a sentence. Drives me crazy. There is a guy on “Ask This Old House” who uses it incessantly. For instance, he was showing a homeowner how to redo his brick walk way. He’d say something like “take and level the sand” or, “take and smooth the cement”. What the heck is he taking…Gah. Who teaches these people how to talk?:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-what-you-mean/571838/2 "2011-02-18T19:19:59Z")
Would “go ahead and level the sand” work better for you? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-what-you-mean/571838/3 "2011-02-18T21:03:45Z")
Or “like totally level the sand” and “like totally smooth the cement”? “Take and” is a meaningless verbal tic, but not nearly as odious as some others. Doesn’t really bother me. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-what-you-mean/571838/4 "2011-02-19T02:11:17Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Would “go ahead and level the sand” work better for you? 🙂 Heh. I know someone who uses ‘go ahead’ in the exact same manner as Lumberger on Office Space. E.g., “I’m going to go ahead and…” or “why don’t you go ahead and…” It used to be hilarious. Now, not so much. And he’s not the only one I’ve heard say it. Where does this come from? ---
**Author:** ![Viridiana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Viridiana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Viridiana)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2011, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-what-you-mean/571838/5 "2011-02-20T00:25:00Z")
Aww, my grandmother did that. I always figured it was a southern old people thing. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2011, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-what-you-mean/571838/6 "2011-02-20T00:27:42Z")
I always found it childishly amusing when I heard someone on a US television programme say they were going to ‘fix dinner’. Fix it? Who broke the dinner?!? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-what-you-mean/571838/7 "2011-02-21T11:02:43Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > I always found it childishly amusing when I heard someone on a US television programme say they were going to ‘fix dinner’. Fix it? Who broke the dinner?!? Well, why don’t you just use the bed you made yesterday? ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-what-you-mean/571838/8 "2011-02-21T12:04:04Z")
We used to have an elderly neighbour who would regale us with lengthy accounts of various conversations (or more often arguments) she’d had. From the way she told it, no-one ever simply “said” anything, they invariably “turned around and said” it: “… so then she turned around and said it was my fault so I turned around and said it was nothing of the sort and she turned around and said she’d heard it from her Irene and I turned around and said her Irene didn’t know what she was talking about and…” I always ended up with a mental image of two quarrelsome old biddies repeatedly spinning round as they bickered, like a couple of geriatric ninjas taking turns aiming round house kicks at each other. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-what-you-mean/571838/9 "2011-02-21T12:32:56Z")
I thought the OP was about people who lie more than they talk or who play it coy, and it’s just about verbal ticks? Tch, tch, OP… title fail! ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-what-you-mean/571838/10 "2011-02-21T12:39:54Z")
> [@Pitter\_Patter](#): > > Do you know people who invariably use the phrase, “take and”, before every other verb in a sentence. No. Quite honestly, this is the first I’ve ever heard of it. > [@Nava](#): > > I thought the OP was about people who lie more than they talk or who play it coy, and it’s just about verbal ticks? Tch, tch, OP… title fail! Agreed. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-what-you-mean/571838/11 "2011-02-21T12:42:48Z")
My pet peeve is adding “area” to parts of a house on house hunting shows. “Here is the kitchen area, the deck area, etc”. No, it’s just the deck or the kitchen. Irrationally bugs me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-what-you-mean/571838/12 "2011-02-21T14:45:19Z")
Mr. Bojangles’s dog up and died. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-what-you-mean/571838/13 "2011-02-21T15:57:38Z")
So we were sittin’ there and I said… ---
**Author:** ![Pitter\_Patter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/90db22/32.png) [@Pitter\_Patter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitter_Patter)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-what-you-mean/571838/14 "2011-02-22T03:13:53Z")
Glad to see you guys are keeping this going. Guess I should take and get a life.😛 ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-what-you-mean/571838/15 "2011-02-22T12:04:28Z")
“What had happened was…” ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-what-you-mean/571838/16 "2011-02-22T12:09:08Z")
I’m going to try and see if I can come up with something for this thread. I’ll try and post it when I think of it. You should try and think of something, too. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-what-you-mean/571838/17 "2011-02-22T12:20:53Z")
I was fixin’ to get started on this here food. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-what-you-mean/571838/18 "2011-02-22T13:27:14Z")
I have a friend who adds in “And she she looked at me and said xxxxxx, and I looked at her and replied yyyyyyyy. She looked at me and said zzzzzz.” GAH! You two _actually look at each_ other when talking? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Heckity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Heckity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heckity)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-what-you-mean/571838/19 "2011-02-22T13:52:11Z")
There is one in particular that makes me crazy. Switch\*\* out **or change** out\*\*: I tried to drum up support here once before to no end - I believe the argument was that \*\* out\*\* added to change or switch implied the item would be thrown away afterward. To my mind the words switch or change are fine on their own, they don’t need the additional word **out**. For example: “I’m going switch **out** the light fixture”; is the same as saying, “I’m going to switch the light fixture”. The **out** is superfluous. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-what-you-mean/571838/20 "2011-02-22T15:32:07Z")
> [@Heckity](#): > > There is one in particular that makes me crazy. > > Switch\*\* out **or change** out\*\*: I tried to drum up support here once before to no end - I believe the argument was that \*\* out\*\* added to change or switch implied the item would be thrown away afterward. > > To my mind the words switch or change are fine on their own, they don’t need the additional word **out**. > > For example: “I’m going switch **out** the light fixture”; is the same as saying, “I’m going to switch the light fixture”. The **out** is superfluous. I disagree completely. “I’m going to change the [whatever]” means “I’m going to alter it or its adjustments or its accessories.” But “I’m going to change \*out \*the [whatever]” means “I’m going to remove and replace it in its entirety.” Now for very simple things like e.g. light bulbs, which have no settings or subassemblies, the difference is moot. But when somebody says “We’re going to change the main computer on the space shuttle.” it means something very different from “We’re going to change out the main computer on the space shuttle.” The switch vs. switch out case is a litle messier, but the fact remains that “switch out” means to replace entire, while “switch” can mean many things, including activate or deactivate. In redundant installations, “I’ll switch the [whatever]” usually means “I’ll activate the unit which is now the standby and put the currently active unit into standby mode.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-what-you-mean/571838.md?page=2)