(no subject)

[deckardcanine]

Some stock phrases -- not axioms, just simple and oft-spoken phrases we say out of habit -- are pretty silly in some contexts. Comedians have noted our tendency to respond to "How are you?" with "Fine" in almost any situation, our tendency to say "You're kidding" in response to tragic news that would make for tasteless kidding, and what Stephan Pastis calls the Inapplicable You Too ("Enjoy Hawaii!" "You too!").

I may have discovered another one. Today I told my office mate -- a mother of young children, FWIW -- that I was going to the ATM. She replied, "Have fun." No irony intended. I wondered what she expected me to do at the ATM. Punch buttons at random and giggle like an imbecile?

Comments

[ccdesan.livejournal.com]

Good notice. That "you too" one has always been a headscratcher...

[stevenroy.livejournal.com]

Hey, those random buttons can be pretty hard to resist sometimes! Especially if they're shiny and/or blink!

[thatcatgirl.livejournal.com]

Well, you did say she's a mother of small kids.

[thatcatgirl.livejournal.com]

er, young kids, but that's usually the same.