Monday, 21 October 2013
No problem - have a gr8 day lol!
I was inspired to write this by a post by Elizabeth Ducie on a similar subject - ie, the automatic usage of dumb phrases, such as 'no problem'. Here is Elizabeth's post - please read it first, it's very good!:
http://elizabethducie.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/the-evolution-of-language-old-fashioned.html
I, too, have had experience of the 'no problem' school of waiter service in restaurants. I remember a few years ago being in a fish restaurant near Peterborough with my father; as in Elizabeth's post, every request was answered with this phrase. Our main course did not arrive for 45 minutes. We talked to the waiter about this, giving orders for more drinks ("Another bottle of the Pinot Grigio" "No problem" "And a jug of water, please" "No problem" "Could you find out from the kitchen how long it will be?" "No problem"). In the end, my father said, "Well, there clearly is a problem, because we've been waiting for our main course for an hour. Could you please check in the kitchen again?" "No problem". The waiter actually went red when he'd said it, probably realising what a chump he sounded. What ever happened to "Certainly, sir"?
Another one is "Don't worry about it!" - "My payment for £120 to ripoffgas.com doesn't seem to have gone through. Could you check it please?" "Sure, don't worry about it" "I paid it on Friday" "I'll just check, don't worry about it" "I wasn't, I was just asking you to check it." "Ha ha! Don't worry about it".
One of my biggest loathes is "You'll be fine" ~ said whenever anyone expresses concern about a job interview, a serious medical condition, a driving test. It is a bland platitude, said without any knowledge or conviction that the person will be fine at all. The first time I heard it, I thought the person actually had inside knowledge, and that I would get the job. I didn't.
Many people know of my loathing of such teenage Facebook terms as 'lol' , 'yay' , 'awesome' 'nom nom nom', and all the rest of them. What I dislike is the way that these words/phrases are latched onto and repeated by all. I'm not talking about incorrect use of the language - I call people dude, say 'wahey' and 'yee-hah', and all sorts of silly things like that, as do many, but I don't use them almost as punctuation marks lol like some do lol. I hate it when I see sentences on Facebook lol with no punctuation apart from lol at the end lol. You're not laughing out loud, are you? And does it really fill you with awe? I told a friend off the other day for her use of 'yay', and she answered that she was equally as irritated by my use of emoticons - fair enough, I will stop automatically putting :) at the end of practically every tweet!!! Incidentally, if ever you see a tweet from me saying something like "I iz okay lol innit", it is probably to one of a very few people who also do this sort of thing as a joke. Lol.
My friend just told me of one she hates (though this isn't the same sort of thing, but I thought I'd mention it!) - when people say "Clearly" before they explain something - I said that means "It's clear to me, and you're stupid if you can't see it." A bit like "With all due respect" which actually means "I think you're talking crap".
Okay, okay, I'll shurrup now - because I've written about this sort of thing before....http://terrytyler59.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/things-that-make-me-go-grrrrr.html
... and how every other Facebook bio (the ones I don't follow back) claims that the profile is that of a self-confessed geek and mediapreneur with eclectic tastes. And the day I become 'sassy' I'll shoot myself. Lol.
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I'm so irritated with the overuse of "epic." It was such a great word and now it's been wrecked!
ReplyDeleteOh, me too. There are so, so many of these! Thanks for reading x
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ReplyDeleteWell, I certainly started something, didn't I, Terry? I've had more blog comments, FB comments and retweets for this one posting than for any of my others. Thanks for developing the theme and coming up with even more suggestions.
ReplyDeleteWhat an awfully bleak, misanthropic moan Terry. You must have chip on your shoulder the size of a small car. Is the anything you actually LIKE? Do you have children? If you do, listen more carefully to them. They are still learning how to express themselves, and so naturally use these silly expressions.
ReplyDeleteYou're supposed to be a grown up, not act like one of them.
Rick
Funny how people who want to leave rude replies always do so under 'anonymous', Rick! (or JimBob or Walt, or whatever your name is). No, I don't have children, but my brother tries to discourage his daughters from writing things like 'lol', too, thank goodness. I can't see that misusing the English language is 'learning to express themselves'. I imagine you allow yours to write all over the walls in other people's houses, too. Anyway, I wasn't talking about children. I was talking about the adults who talk like Facebook using teenagers, and, sheeplike, use daft, meaningless phrases. Shame you weren't bright enough to understand that.
Delete"Shame you weren't bright enough'. 'Allow yours to write all over the walls.'
ReplyDeleteYou've just proved my point by reacting like a spoilt child. Thank goodness my own children have a sweetheart for an aunt.
Rick
Sir, I was merely responding to your rude remarks to my post - I love how these 'anonymous' people who trawl blog posts to write rude remarks get extremely vicious when people answer back! Most just delete them; I do usually, but I thought yours was particularly stupid, as you didn't even understand the post, but thought I was having a go at children. As for my family circumstances, I won't even bother to defend myself to you as I don't know you. Now bugger off, and find someone else to get bitter with - or go and do something useful. I shall delete any further comments without reading, so you might want to find something else to do this morning.
Deleteha ha ha ha - that made my day!
ReplyDeleteThought you'd like it - well, these idiots need telling, don't they?! Makes you wonder about the state of their psyche that they feel the need to be so rude to complete strangers. I wouldn't have minded him disagreeing with me if he'd actually understood the post and made an intelligent comment about it. :) Darn, there's that smiley face, again!!!
DeleteTerry, I do agree with much of what you've said here. The trouble with the Social Media speak is it's like all sorts of shorthand communication - useful in certain circumstances but only in those circumstances. I'm a great believer in the emoticon for quick communication as I don't have time on social media to craft my words the way I would in a real letter or book. The emoticon is part of a kind of shorthand system that means I'm in tune with someone. I think 'lol' and 'rofl' etc serve the same purpose, being that these sort of chat conversations replace real conversations, but they need to be kept in their place! As always, you give me some fat to chew on…thanks Terry :-)))
ReplyDeleteI do know what you mean re emoticons and I like them very much, but I think lol, yay, etc are ghastly. I can't understand why intelligent people would use them at all. But then some people might say the same about some things I use. I think as far as 'lol' goes, the world is divided into those who do and those who loathe!
DeleteHaha, Terry, I don't use lol very often (although it has been known - daughters me one into all sorts of interesting directions), but I even say out loud 'yay' when excited and out of hand…sorry :-))))))
DeleteThis made me chuckle. Am I still allowed to curtsey and say 'Much obliged, Ma'am' when we communicate? *just checking* haha. I must admit having had five children around me for the past 23 years I do tend to throw in a lot of these little words you dislike. It's not cos I can't articulate meself proper like, it just be habit. As is using smileys etc at the end of tweets to make sure I have made it clear about whether I am joking or not. I think that comes from having a warped humour that needs apologetic enhancement and 144 characters. Clearly, however, as we are friends, this is no problem so don't worry about it, Terry (lol) *runs away*
ReplyDeleteOh, I like smileys at the end of tweets, etc, too! I just hate lol!!!! For me, it's 'moron speak', but I know plenty of people who use it who aren't morons at all!!! I suppose I do :) where some people will use lol.... But, as I said, it's more the way in which people use it as a form of punctuation lol if you know what i mean lol, ie, just putting it at the end of practically every sentence!
DeleteI often find I'm guilty of a 'lol' when trying to convey to people who don't 'get me' to show that I'm not serious, it's just my warped sense of humour :-/
DeleteI do understand that - I think my alternative of it is ha ha!!!! By the way, re your comment below - old 'anonymous Rick' kept posting comments.... I didn't read them because I knew they'd just be ill thought out abuse!!! I expect he hadn't found much sport that day in his internet trawling....!
DeleteSadly, I am guilty (as you know) of LOLing and so forth although I am very aware of who I'm talking to when I write it and it's only every on social networking sites and emails to close friends and family and I do try not to use it when I'm blogging. I am also guilty of the 'no problem' reply. I hang my head in shame (although I'm not going to throw a hissy fit like our friend 'Rick') as I know that you know it's now becoming everyday language. I'm terribly guilty of not putting full stops at the end of my paragraphs when on Facebook as well. That's how you know it's me and not an imposter!
ReplyDeleteLook, I'm aware that the answer to all this could be 'bugger off, then', so I think this really is my last word on the subject!!! I know, I know, but you write intelligently anyway, and don't use lol as punctuation do you lol
DeleteI think we all do 'No problem', too, at times; I cringe when I hear myself say 'No worries' to my father, as it's one of his pet loathes!!! But it was just on that particular occasion when the waiter kept trotting it out as though he was programmed to use that response whatever the question - ditto the 'don't worry about it' one!!
I too do the no full stops on FB!!!!! But at least I don't put lol instead lol :)
No, you're entitled to your opinion. I think a lot of it is something we do without thinking about it and don't even realise we have adopted a lot of the modern day lingo until it's pointed out to us.
DeleteWhat I don't understand is people feeling the need to try to belittle you on your own blog, but hey....each to their own! ;-)
I'm surprised he's not back by now!!!!! Ahhh, I don't belittle easily, especially not in the face of twats!!!!
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