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My foreman would always say “Love my job” in a happy tone after anything bad happened on a job site. The happier the tone, the worse it was
then comes the singing.
“Dear God, he’s doing H.M.S. Pintafore. We have to leave. Now!”
I know that guy
I feel like the one going on about defcon does not know defcon 5 is actually pretty chill
Should’ve gone the Kanye route and said defcon 3
*death con 3
“I’m doin.” -I am not doing well and I don’t want to talk about it. But I’m also too exhausted and shattered to keep lying about my mental state for the sake of social niceties, so I’m hoping my vague, neutral statement will either convey what I’m feeling, or you’ll fill in the blank with whatever you want to hear. Just as long as you stop asking how I’m doing.
Oof
Fun fact: in America asking “how’s it going?” is just a greeting, nobody really cares
Brits ofen say “You alright?” As a substitute for “Hi.”
Pretty jarring when you’re not used to it. Id think “God, I must look like shit if they’re genuinely checking on my welfare!”
Yeah Tom Scott did one of his linguistics videos about that, he had a word for it but some questions aren’t really questions they’re basically just rituals, though rephrased a different way makes them genuine questions, and when you have major dialects of the “same” language like British and American English, we use different ones. “Are you alright?” is basically a noise of greeting in Britain and an expression of genuine concern in America, while “How are you?” is the reverse.
Chinese version 你吃了吗 or variations on that, although it’s not used so much anymore. Literally means “have you eaten”, except it doesn’t really require an answer. I imagine it came up in that video, but it’s a good one.
Literally means “have you eaten”, except it doesn’t really require an answer.
Grandmothers in every culture
When I moved to London, I remember the old lady at the laundromat addressing me as “love”
I was like: “Damn, over here my charm even works with old ladies”
As it turns out, calling somebody “love” it’s just a way of addressing people in some English regions.
Won’t stop us from having a conversation or even just bitching about something that is randomly bothering us.
depends on the part of America. in some rural areas no but in the city absolutely
It’s really like that everywhere, in my experience.
It’s at most small talk, not a license to dive into one’s life story.
Germans: na?
My favorite to use: “not gonna lie to you.”
I usually just go with “sheeeeeeeeeeiiiiiit”
“Too blessed to be depressed” - they’re a Christian fundamentalist who is depressed but trying to convince themselves otherwise. You should run.
I’m here ain’t I = Defcon 5
So normal then?
“Hanging in there”
Look, I’m a cherry!
Living the dream!
Nightmares are dreams, right?
Gonna
stealpirate thatR
I prefer “living a dream”.
Am I living someone else’s dream? Is it a nightmare? Am I disassociating? – the answer is “yes”.
It’s been like three years of hearing that and they’re still working the same job lol…
Don’t forget “too blessed to be depressed”= I think God will be angry with me if I admit life (read: murica) isn’t perfect
In the opposite direction, when I moved to England it took me a while to get used to compliment “inflation” over there.
For example when somebody’s opinion on something is:
- “interesting”, it means it’s shit
- “ok”, means it’s bad or mediocre
- “good” and “great”, means it’s average
- “wonderful” and “amazing”, means it’s good
I once asked one of the natives how did they transmit the message that they trully believes something was a 10/10 and was explained that’s done by going into details on how something is so great.
DefCon Stages:
5 - “I’m here, ain’t I?”
4 - “ain’t dead yet.”
3 - “it is what it is”
2 - “I’m not gonna lie to you”
1 - “…don’t worry about it”Her horrors persist, and so do I.
“On the right side of the dirt.”
The dirt is always browner over there
I’m German and for me, “can’t complain” means I have nothing to complain, I’m fine, nothing special
I find Germans have an easier time replying to things very frankly and without garnishment or humor. I can ask a German, “How are you?”, and he may reply with “I’m fine” and it can be taken at face value.
Americans tend to be more, I don’t know, conflict avoidant in their replies? There’s more expectation of subtext, of irony, and it’s not as typical to take “I’m fine” at face value.
“Can’t complain” is another good one. It’s often heard as, “I can’t complain [because nobody would listen anyway]”. Tone is important, as is environmental context. Blue collar workers at the site say this, yeah their day is going to shit. Your buddy says it over drinks, maybe he’s having a neutral, normal time of life, or maybe his life is going to shit and he’s giving the ironic answer to avoid diving into his real issues, while still communicating that things are not perfect.
Last week I was asked how my day was. It had been a perfectly normal, decent day, good time at work, beautiful weather, and my reply was “Life’s a peach”. I got back, “That bad, huh?” Yeah, the American habit of taking genuine expression and searching for a darkness under it can be tiring sometimes.
