Words, usages, and phrases that annoy the shit out of you...

“Do” usually seems to me to be the person saying that the activity in question is beneath them and really only engaged in by disgusting savages and their ilk.

https://bcdbimages.s3.amazonaws.com/warner/ltmm/dough_dodo.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOP_cPX7JDw

("Accept," by the way, because said posts are waiting in a queue to be approved by a moderator

Ah, the premoderation thing makes the whole thing make more sense to me. But yeah, clumsy I agree.

I don't really do Dallas

The usual food-ordering phrase around me (NJ) is "lemme get." Lemme get two bacon cheeseburgers, large fries, large Coke.

xp it's okay, Debbie does

actually i think i do know what bothers me about it, at least w/r/t ordering food, and it's that it somehow makes it sound like the customer is passively acquiescing to their order. like the barista is just dying to make you a drink, so you suppose you'll accept a latte or whatever.

it also annoys me a bit tbh ... but I think the reason why it bothers me is that it construes the act of having a coffee or food as some "experience" that implies a greater amount of activity and initiative than, paying for someone to make you food, at a place that does such a thing, where you have already chosen to eat there, and you are given a menu of options, and your agency consists of selecting items off the menu, and then eating the food. Like, compare it to other things people "do" that are more active and/or require more agency/initiative: "we're going to do karaoke!" or "We're going to do the El Capitan hike!" or "we're going to do the parenting thing!"

'i did a thing'

lol

"I will eat a hamburger and drink a Coke"

i am going to “take” a part time job at starbucks just so i can shame people who order like this

them: “i’ll take a latte”

me: “NOT WITHOUT PAYING FOR IT FIRST YOU WON’T!”

British people are still vexed about the Americanism of using ‘can I get…’ in the ordering process.

That's OK, we roll our eyes at "whilst."

We had a similar discussion about "I'll do [menu item]" in this thread a while back, starting here: Words, usages, and phrases that annoy the shit out of you...

"bobbins"

Most British people also hate ‘whilst’ or find it as objectionable as people who use ‘myself’ where ‘me’ is sufficient.

Whomst

xp tp Aimless
wow
back then i had a full time teaching job

how times change :-/

Like, compare it to other things people "do" that are more active

I overheard two guys in a cafe talking about all the boxsets they'd done in the last few months. They really made it sound a lot more impressive than just watching a load of telly, to the extent that at first I thought maybe they were designers or subtitlers or some other profession that had something to do with the actual production of the boxsets. But no. Just watched them.

We don’t really do box sets

Like, compare it to other things people "do" that are more active

Every once in a while I do a crossword puzzle. Does this count as more active than doing some food or drink?

right! i'll do you for that innit

i'm sure the first person to say "what can i do you for?!" was met confusion and panic. but it spread like wildfire

Probably been mentioned before: "do" in place of "get" or "have" or "accept" or who knows what else. Someone's ordering a dozen donuts: "I'll do three chocolate, three honey glazed..." One of the other moderators in a Facebook group I'm in: "Sorry, we don't do posts from out of town." Just hate it.

― clemenza, Thursday, December 29, 2022 2:49 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

I am guilty of this, but clemenza's post has maybe rehabilitated me. I never really thought much about it tbh. "I'll have" sounds too regal or something, too presumptuous; "I'll take" sounds coarse (and don't get me started on "get me a..."). I really want to say "May I please have," which is what I was taught to say, but that sounds so needlessly formal and politeness, and is often mistaken for snobbery (see also "pardon me," which I also say).

Basically I just want to procure all of my food via a touchscreen or from a buffet table

i do "could i get"

"I suppose you could . . ."

sort of makes all my requests sound like long shots, even if i'm at hot dog on a stick asking if i could get a hot dog on a stick

when on the other side i'm a "what can i get for you" tho so at least i'm symmetrical

xp unfortunately that would put me and zillions of other decent people out of work
that's way more rude/off-putting than ordering your food in any particular way

i have to work tonight and my prediction is that i won't pay an ounce of attention to how people ask for their food; that's a luxury i don't have time for! it's NYE!

I'll have the hot dog on a stick, please stand three feet away when you hand it to me.

xp unfortunately that would put me and zillions of other decent people out of work
that's way more rude/off-putting than ordering your food in any particular way

yeah, I was mostly kidding. I haven't eaten at a buffet in like thirty years. And until about four years ago I worked in the service industry, so I get it. I just find that any interaction with a stranger that requires a transaction is always a little awkward and fraught for some reason, and I don't think I'm unique in this

can I get an abolish capitalism please

Now you've got me feeling guilty, Paul. Please: everyone speak however you want. And if you see an old guy in the next line giving you the evil eye, just accidently spill hot coffee on me on purpose and go about your day.

sort of makes all my requests sound like long shots, even if i'm at hot dog on a stick asking if i could get a hot dog on a stick

when on the other side i'm a "what can i get for you" tho so at least i'm symmetrical

― difficult listening hour, Saturday, December 31, 2022 7:41 AM (five hours ago)

lol ... I tend to go with "I would like" ... but will say "could i get" in the context of optional things, as in, "I would like the spicy chicken sandwich, and could i get curly fries instead of regular fries?"

though that reminds me of late night drive thru experiences ... and how, actually, I do tend to say "could I get" more often tbh because I am often prepared for the food dispensing person to say "sorry, no, we are actually out of this thing"

Shake machine's broke

Amen

it's "could i have" you're welcome

Yes, that (or "can") is my compromise between the ways of the course youth – minds polluted by the New World – and the Rees-Moggery of "May I have".

"Gie's" will do for me.

"gimme a steak and don't fuck it up"

Basically I just want to procure all of my food via a touchscreen or from a buffet table

The automat

ah - I’m from Australia so all diner culture is foreign to me

I get using X as a *written* shorthand for "times," as in "increased 10x." But at some point people started to pronounce the X when speaking, and it drives me crazy because it doesn't save you any time! I think it's a Silicon Valley thing, or at least I associate it with tech bros.

like latinx?

There’s also the x for collaborations which I’ve no idea how to pronounce, as seen in usage such as Supreme x Nike.

i always say “versus” but yeah

For what it's worth: we watched Lost in America tonight for the monthly film screenings I've been trying to get off the ground in my town, and--in the great scene where Albert Brooks tries the bribe the hotel desk clerk--he says "I don't do reservations." So "do" as an all-purpose verb dates to at least '85.

the x comes from japanese style mags and is meant to represent “by”

so you’d pronounce “supreme x nike” as” supreme by nike” to mean the shoes are sold at supreme and have supreme specific designs but are manufactured to order by nike

confusingly you’d write nike x supreme or “nike by supreme” if they had been designed by supreme and sold at nike stores even though they’d still be manufactured by nike (supreme has no capacity for manufacturing shoes and supreme generally does not go for diffusing their brand like that)

but you’ll see it used that way for stuff like “carhartt x awake” where carhartt makes standard carhartt jackets and hoodies but then prints graphics on them designed by awake and then sells the product at carhartt stores

of course on the internet most ppl just use it however since most ppl not aware (i think?) of where it comes from

i think it’s based on multiplication: 6 x 8 is pronounced “six by eight” sometimes instead of “six times nine”. that seems more british than american to me so maybe hong kong plays into it somehow? or maybe because a lot of the og tokyo streetwear crew (predating supreme etc) had formative experiences in london and not new york