Musings on Wording

[finch1750]

Originally Posted by Captain Snooze

I am often asked when I am paying for my coffee at a favourite coffee shop "How was everything?". I understand it is not meant to be taken literally; I am being asked how was my coffee. I have often considered going into a tirade of questions trying to determine what they mean by their question.

Me: "Was" past tense. "Everything" encompasses.... well everything. Are you referring to my early childhood, the state of the universe, the history of Poland?
Coffee shop staff: Huh?

Context solves that. They only care about your coffee experiance so they are asking how was everything about your visit.

That will be the basis for a longer response to @MuseChaser on tuesday. I only post from my phone but this will be much too long so need to wait til I'm back to work on a computer.

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by finch1750

Context solves that. They only care about your coffee experiance so they are asking how was everything about your visit.

I disagree. If they were interested in my coffee experience they would have asked "How was your coffee?". No, all the staff ask the same poorly worded question. It is a case of the the literal question not meaning what they are really enquiring about. *shakes fist at sky*

[MuseChaser]

Originally Posted by Captain Snooze

I am often asked when I am paying for my coffee at a favourite coffee shop "How was everything?". I understand it is not meant to be taken literally; I am being asked how was my coffee. I have often considered going into a tirade of questions trying to determine what they mean by their question.

Me: "Was" past tense. "Everything" encompasses.... well everything. Are you referring to my early childhood, the state of the universe, the history of Poland?
Coffee shop staff: Huh?

LOL.. yeah..

Another new favorite in the restaurant business seems to be having servers ask "How is it tasting?" I know.. the verb "taste" can be a little ambiguous, but food, at least as I'm used to thinking of it, "has a taste," but the person eating the food "tastes" the food. Asking me "how is it tasting" always makes me wonder how the food thinks I taste. OK.. yeah.. we do say, "Hey, this rotten otter tastes great," but rarely do we say "this platter of festering boils is tasting fantastic."

I'd rather be asked, "Are you enjoying the food?" or "Is the food prepared to your liking?" or "Does everything you ordered taste tantalizing?" or whatever. "How is it tasting?" just sounds weird. Again.. I'm not sure why it hits me that way.

[Ultramaroon]

I am annoyed by "How are we?"

"I'm fine. You'll have to figure out the rest for yourself."

[finch1750]

Originally Posted by Captain Snooze

I disagree. If they were interested in my coffee experience they would have asked "How was your coffee?". No, all the staff ask the same poorly worded question. It is a case of the the literal question not meaning what they are really enquiring about. *shakes fist at sky*

But it's more than cofee. Was the place dirty? Did you get bad service? Maybe the barthroom was out of paper towels. They could say "how was you visit?" But honestly the context of their relationship with you should answer what "everything" entails.

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

I am annoyed by "How are we?"

"I'm fine. You'll have to figure out the rest for yourself."

I like that.


My sort of favourite (but not really) is when I am asked "And what was your name?" to which I reply "It still is...."

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Captain Snooze

I like that.


My sort of favourite (but not really) is when I am asked "And what was your name?" to which I reply "It still is...."

Damn. Now I can add that to my list.

[JD001]

I just feel sorry for the poor service staff working for a minimum wage, most likely the only job they have and they need to feed a string of children back home... so their head is not in the job or they are not aware of the moment. They want to do their shift, get home and then they get an "awkward" customer who starts his/her musings just because he/she can as he/she is from the right side of town, drives a nice car and works in job most likely they enjoy and just loving life... yes I have watched too much Judge Judy over the Xmas break!

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by JD001

I just feel sorry for the poor service staff working for a minimum wage......

As I mentioned "I have often considered going into a tirade of......" I appreciate they do not want to get into a discourse with a stupid customer who has too much time on his hands.

I get the gist of your post but.......my view of the world says that language is supposed to convey meaning. The base units of language are words. For us to be able to convey meaning we have to agree on what the words symbolise/mean. When I say "look at the dog" you immediately think the symbol for generic dog. When you look across the street towards what I am pointing at when I say "dog" you don't know what kind of dog you will see but you know a dog when you see one regardless of whether it is a corgi, alsatian or dachshund. You do not expect to see a cat because I hadn't said so.

I am suggesting that people whose use sloppy English cannot accurately convey what it is they are thinking because they don't have the tools to do so. I can't but help listening to other people's conversation. It amazes me sometimes how often someone will use "you know" in their talk. Sure, it makes them sound like they are talking even though there is no meaning.

My wife, whose first language is not English, is amazed at the vagaries of the English language. I pity anyone trying to learn English.
In the example above if my wife is asked "What was your name?" she would answer with her maiden name. I mean, why wouldn't she?

I work part time in a bottle shop. I am often asked for a bottle of Champagne when what the customer is asking is for a bottle of sparkling. I am not being pedantic; there is a difference even though the customer may not be aware of it.

Umm... ok, rant over.

[Captain Snooze]

Don Watson was the speech writer to one of Australia's Prime Ministers. He doesn't orate all that well but he is worth listening to. I am still looking for part 2.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz6QuKbEAsc"]Bendable Learnings: Don Watson on the wisdom of modern management (p1) - YouTube[/ame]

[JD001]

Originally Posted by Captain Snooze

As I mentioned "I have often considered going into a tirade of......" I appreciate they do not want to get into a discourse with a stupid customer who has too much time on his hands.

I get the gist of your post but.......my view of the world says that language is supposed to convey meaning. The base units of language are words. For us to be able to convey meaning we have to agree on what the words symbolise/mean. When I say "look at the dog" you immediately think the symbol for generic dog. When you look across the street towards what I am pointing at when I say "dog" you don't know what kind of dog you will see but you know a dog when you see one regardless of whether it is a corgi, alsatian or dachshund. You do not expect to see a cat because I hadn't said so.

I am suggesting that people whose use sloppy English cannot accurately convey what it is they are thinking because they don't have the tools to do so. I can't but help listening to other people's conversation. It amazes me sometimes how often someone will use "you know" in their talk. Sure, it makes them sound like they are talking even though there is no meaning.

My wife, whose first language is not English, is amazed at the vagaries of the English language. I pity anyone trying to learn English.
In the example above if my wife is asked "What was your name?" she would answer with her maiden name. I mean, why wouldn't she?

I work part time in a bottle shop. I am often asked for a bottle of Champagne when what the customer is asking is for a bottle of sparkling. I am not being pedantic; there is a difference even though the customer may not be aware of it.

Umm... ok, rant over.

We have "init" that I think is the equivalent to "you know".. I thought "init" was a new phenomenon however watched an old black and white UK movie filmed around the time of the last WW and heard "init"..

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by JD001

We have "init" that I think is the equivalent to "you know".. I thought "init" was a new phenomenon however watched an old black and white UK movie filmed around the time of the last WW and heard "init"..

That's interesting. I was reading your post and thought wait a sec... that sounds like an English (country not language) expression which surprised me because I assume that people in this forum are from the US by default. I check your location, lo and behold you are in the UK.

Yeah, I've heard the init in old UK TV series. F**k, I hope I don't remember this post tomorrow otherwise I might start saying init compulsively.

[JD001]

Originally Posted by Captain Snooze

That's interesting. I was reading your post and thought wait a sec... that sounds like an English (country not language) expression which surprised me because I assume that people in this forum are from the US by default. I check your location, lo and behold you are in the UK.

Yeah, I've heard the init in old UK TV series. F**k, I hope I don't remember this post tomorrow otherwise I might start saying init compulsively.

LOFL!! there are a few Limeys on this forum. It's the only forum that I use for the Twin as it's very good... init!

[MuseChaser]

Another one that always made me wait for "the rest of the story" went like this...

I call a phone number for a household and ask to speak with a certain person ... "Hello, may I please speak with Gertrude Shnizzlefritz?"

The person responds, "This is." That's it... not "This is Gertrude," or even "speaking," just "this is." THIS IS WHAT?!?!! WHO?!?!?! Maybe it's a northeast USA thing...

The almost complete use of cell phones has limited the need for party verification nowadays, but it still crops up on the occasional land line call.