I cannot believe that “Got ___?” is still making the rounds. There’s a SE Asian furniture store I pass by every now and then with a little sign that says “Got bed?” I mutter angrily to myself when I pass that store. Is that any way to sell an expensive hand carved bed?
Do you know where you guys got it because it sounds so pidgin to me. Especially when you put an “, eh?” at the end. It fits right in with “no need” and “no can.” I wonder if it was picked up when Australia took up surfing.
I think we can blame it on Jennifer Lopez for J.Lo. Then mean some idiot made a joke about who she was dating and it stuck.
Good god. I don’t know where “the edge of the earth” is, but this shit has gone on for far too long here in Southern California. I know people who don’t even listen to mainstream rap with two or more “izzles” in their MySpace name.
I got into that habit after learning conversational Spanish and begining to practice it outside of the classroom. My near-constant use of “me entiendes?” to make sure I was getting through, eventually seeped into my English speech and now I can’t get it out.
I agree with the poster who hates “product” when referring to mousse, gel or other hair-styling products. JUST SAY MOUSSE!!
Something else I heard on Trading Spaces on a regular basis was “cabinetry”. As in, “We’re going to be putting in all new cabinetry”. Why is the word “cabinets” not sufficient? It sounds pretentious.
Since this is the winter season, if I hear a weatherman/woman refer to snow as “the white stuff”, I’m going down to the station and beat him with a 2x4! It’s not cute, you’re a dork. Just stop.
What would you call it? Now that we have a baby, any time out alone is like a date. It’s a short way of saying, “My husband and I are going to dinner and a movie without the baby.”
Now, if the couple was childless, that might be a little different. As far as I’m concerned, they’re always on dates when they go out.
Interesting anecdote: About 18 months ago, some friends and I were out hunting one night on a farm. We’re driving through a paddock full of cows, and the 4WD ute broke down.
One of my mates and I were sitting in the back of the ute, and noticed that several cow herds were descending on us, not entirely unlike something from Attack of the Zombie Cows From Outer Space. It was quite spooky, actually, and whilst the farmer and one of the other guys was trying to get the engine started again, my mate and I are watching the cows getting closer, and closer, and milling around the ute- and my mate fixes the nearest cow with this deadly serious look and says “Got Milk?”
We were laughing so hard we nearly fell off the back of the 4WD… yeah, you had to be there, but it was still funny.
“No Worries” sounds perfectly fine to me. “No need” also sounds OK, but “No Can” sounds like a Vietnamese restaurant/bar owner explaining that the water closet is currently out of commission and that patrons feeling the effects of the curry may wish to avail themselves of facilities in local hotels instead.
Very few expressions mentioned here aggravate me. But that is one of the few. I think it’s because it’s entirely artificial. Most hip-hop expressions derive from standard English, even if by a very circuitous route, but “-izzle” has to have been invented out of thin air; what could it have derived from.
Also want to slap people who say “You need to…” I can’t take it as anything other than totally condescending. There often seems to be an unspoken “or else” as well. I don’t “need” to do anything except eat, sleep and shit. If I want to do something, then tell me what I can do to make it happen. And if I don’t want to, whaddya gonna do, call a cop?
And one expression that seems to have died, and I pray to Og that I don’t resurrect it by mentioning it, is “from hell.” I think because people were always falling back on it to avoid using a descriptor.
Ugh! The geek circle (in general) still uses “of doom”…back when I was 12 I thought it was a cool way to get a quick laugh out of a mundane sentence, but it’s getting pretty goddamned old. I love Questionable Content, but whenever the story goes to “Coffee of Doom” I’m reminded of the author’s little touches of immaturity that prevents it from attaining godly status among webcomics. (Not that I’m complaining–he’s such an indie snob (and I say that in the most admiring and jealous way possible) that he wouldn’t have it any other way IMO, and his comic would probably be worse if more people paid attention to it.)
I say “here you go” at certain points in the middle of the transaction–handing the customer a receipt, a pen to sign a credit card slip, his/her card back, etc–because otherwise I get into a maddening gratitude loop that makes me want to go on a murderous rampage. It already ticks me off when customers thank me for every god damn thing I say and do–about 75% of the time the customer thanks me a minimum of four times, I shit you not, before I even begin preparing their drink. If I said anything more polite than “here you go” in those circumstances, I’d end up drowning in a sea of overdone pleasantries. (I’ve tried it.) I do thank the customer once after taking their order and again when giving them their order, though.
Careful with that brush, buddy! You never know who you might paint over with it–including, I’m sure, a majority of the people representing whatever your party s.
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Ref “.there you go” I know what you mean about overdone pleasantries,but I meant the “thank you” at the end of the transaction only.
In the U.K. we have a minority of shop assistants who have perfected the art of never saying please or thankyou when serving people who dont hold their personal approval, “better off” people,old people ,university students and servicemen in garrison cities are examples Ive noticed in the past.
But I must hold my ground on “Yes thats a problem that must be addressed”
Evasive verbiage at its worst ,exactly how addressed?and by whom?It doesn’t even accept the responsibility that must be theirs
If it was the responsibility of their political rivals they’d be straight in there with the boot and no messing.
Politically I’m a floating voter,I’ve voted for the Tory,Labour and the Green parties in different elections and once wanted to vote for the "Monster Raving Loony " Party but there wasn’t a candidate standing in my area.
A.P.T.S.B.A
It seems to be saying “I’ll only answer the questions I want to and to hell with the public.”
These 2 examples have definitely not gone quietly into that good night, and that’s the problem. So maybe we’ve broaden the OP to include “once-trendy expressions that refuse to die.”
I can’t remember the last time I heard it. It definitely wasn’t this decade. I think it went out of style in my area in the mid-90s when a construction company named Allgood started having really annoying commercials all the time.
