My salty pastor pal Suzanne Ecklund shares my sensitive ear. She suffers with me when people use language to make themselves bigger, to make you smaller or to undeservingly ingratiate themselves. She shares my conviction that verbal tics that become trendy have meaning, and consequences. For one of many instances, Suzanne and I believe that people are getting at something when they begin an answer to an honest question with the entirely unnecessary word, "so." If anything, Suzanne thinks that I didn't react strongly enough in this video rant.
Well, Suzanne emailed me over the weekend with another problem: "People now, when you ask them a question, will nod very earnestly and say, 'Sure' before they answer the question. You will despise it. 100% satisfaction guarantee."
Of course I've heard it and I already despise it. But Suzanne helped me lay tongue to it.
She and I have slightly different interpretations of its signaled meaning.
Here's what I think this use of "sure" signals:
"Sure, I'm happy to answer that question. It's understandable that you would ask it, you not knowing much. But I'm going to start by saying 'sure,' and then I'm probably going to throw in a 'so'—just so you know it's a patient expert Einstein that you have the good fortune to deal with here."
Q. Why do you have to seal the reckonambulator before you flush it?
A. Sure. So, the pipes in the reckonambulator are made of copper …
Suzanne, meanwhile, thinks "sure" is used for another purpose:
My experience of it is that it is much more about demonstrating sincerity, earnestness, warmth, and connection. (barf)
Q: Given your own history, was your experience of reading the book a challenging one?
A: (nodding warmly) Sure. (deliberate pause) Answer, answer, answer, answer, answer.
It's so gross.
Writing Booterrorists, have you detected this new American habit of speech? Is it a leading sign of the decline of Western Civilization, or is it something more benign?
Pastor Suzanne says
It is a leading sign of the decline of Western Civilization.
David Murray says
A mere sign, or actually the root cause?
Rebecca Anderson says
My most despised verbal tic of 2013:
“I feel like…” Although not used exclusively at the start of a sentence, this phrase is used instead of “um” and is the emotive “I think.” All are filler at best. Honor thy listener. Preach.
David Murray says
Oh, now you’re hitting hard. My wife and I fight about this all the time, because she’s always saying things like, “I feel like I saw your keys on the coffee table,” or “I feel like I wrote a check for the property taxes last month.”
Oh really? Describe that “wrote-a-check-for-the-property-taxes” feeling, will you?
It’s WEAK-MINDED, I tell her. Alas, I feel like I’ve actually said it a couple of times myself …
Joan H. says
So you all tell us how cold it is down there by equating it to wind chill. Sure, I get that it makes you feel more “on the frontier” if you can tell the story with more drama. “So, it got down to ZERO last night” isn’t nearly as exciting as “The wind chill was MINUS TWENTY FIVE DEGREES!!!” Sure, we Alaskans like to augment our tales. Adding a foot of height to a bear, or six inches to a fish–we all do it. But we NEVER, when asked the temperature at our house last night, say, “the wind chill was MINUS A HUNDRED” even if the thermometer did dip to -45 and the wind was blowing. Heck, we don’t even close the schools unless it’s -50. Nobody ever answers “how cold was it” with wind chill.
So why am I telling you this? I dunno. I just wanted to say “so” and “sure” a bunch of times while making the point that you’re being WEENIES with the cold weather. WEENIES, I tell you! Love, your Northern neighbor, where the temps have been in the upper 40s while you’ve been freezing your buns down there. I feel like you’ve been feeling sorry for yourselves. 😉 #threwinanemoticonjust forgoodmeasure #hashtagsmakemecrazy
Unanymous says
#Whatshesaid
Bruce says
Sure. So… I feel like it’s not really that big of a deal. What I hate far more than that is the trend toward using text abbreviations in proper written correspondence. Care to address that one, or is it something you’ve already tackled?
David Murray says
Joan, you live on Pluto. We live on Neptune. I would never complain to people who live on Pluto about Neptune. Mainly, because people who live on Pluto don’t have the sense God gave them anyway, or they wouldn’t live on Pluto. But I WILL complain to the people on Venus who have NO IDEA what it’s like to have your nose hairs freeze into a rigid knot.
And you won’t take that away from me. And if you’re gonna try, you’d better come down here and do it personally.
David Murray says
Bruce, to ur q: i dnk abt tld or wtf asap. LOL!
Joan H. says
David, I think that’s a very good idea, that “do it personally” thing. Let me check my Alaska Air mileage balance. I haven’t been anywhere for far too long.
Joan H. says
Maybe I could bring you a parkie.