A Big Ask

it's kinda odd, coz 'ask' is a verb, but here it is being used as a noun.

No... what on earth does it mean?

It just reminds me of Time Team Big Dig.

It's football manager speak.

Does my ask look big in this?

it means that you are asking someone to do something which is very difficult or requires a lot of work.

this, from the Urban Dictionary:

"Apparently used once by Alf in Home and Away, this is an odd phrase which turns the verb ask into a noun. Of all things! Research indicates that it is generally used in sports and business, and randomly by Australians. It also seems to have been embraced by Friends of the Earth, being the name of their campaign against climate change.

I know it's a big ask, but can you stop climate change?"

:D D:D :D:D

It's football manager speak

well, Sir Alex used it in April this year, referring to the Premiership title race, but I can't recall hearing it used by football managers earlier than that. The vast majority of references I've found online do appear to be Australian.

in light of the futurama thread this should be "a big aks"

None of this makes any sense. It's even worse now, knowing that it comes from sport.

'It's a big ask' is somehow totally condescending but I can't quite put my finger on why. It's a bit like people who say 'ta'. Maybe it's got a hint of middle-class person trying to show the common touch, too.

I seem to remember being told off by my mother when I was a kid for saying "ta". I don't think she thought it had any class connotations tho. I think she just thought that I would sound babyish.

saying 'ta' automatically makes someone a middle-class person trying to show the common touch??

I can't remember the last time I heard anyone use 'ta'. It goes

cheers > thanks > thank you > djenkuje > ta

you need to go north more!

i say ta, jeez.

there's nothing middle class or sporty about the phrase. very common in UK and Ireland, i should have thought.

I think it is different in meeja circles, just generally! What about "ta ra"?

i write ta but don't think i ever say it other than jokingly.

xpost none of my friends from the NORTH 'ta' me. Ever.

Dunno but it always struck me as something jumped-up people (who may or may not be common) say to subordinates in any case, as an affectation - once I upbraided a shop manager I was working with for 'ta'-ing everyone around her. My feeling was that people who deserved thanks for completing mindless menial tasks were entitled to more than this.

I've also said/heard this a lot in Australia, but in conversations that were unrelated to sport.

x-post Take it from a Northerner that 'Ta' is neither rude or condescending, at least it's not meant to be. It's sort of cheery and informal in the same way that 'luv' is.

But I suppose some people would take exception to that as well?

Real life working class people do actually say 'ta'. At least they do in the Midlands, and I assume the North as well.

I've never heard anyone say "a big ask" before. I don't like it much either.

xpost to Dr C!

yeah i see 'ta' the way Dr C describes. maybe you need an 'ooh' before it.

'It's a big ask' is somehow totally condescending but I can't quite put my finger on why.

It kind of is, isn't it? It's a bit like "I realise I'm putting you to a lot of trouble" combined with "aren't you a great girl (or boy)?" all in one, with no difficult words thrown in for good measure.

It kind of reminds me of when people in the service industry say "no problem" to me when I thank them. That's fine if I felt I was putting them to trouble, like looking up something that's out of print, or fetching something from a high shelf, or having a look in the stock room, but for just saying "put your card in here, now key in your pin, now take out your card, here's your receipt"? How could anyone think that might be a problem?

It's sort of cheery and informal in the same way that 'luv' is.

A young man in a petrol station once told my mother that he was not her bleedin' love when she said "twenty quid's worth, please love" to him.

Kids today, eh? No respect.

I've never heard the expression "a big ask" unless referring to a centrally-located branch of a not-particularly-good chain restaurant.

x-post

Yes 'No problem' is just a kind of meaningless tic. It usually follows shortly after 'How may I help you?'

Not a big Ask:

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40200000/jpg/_40200941_askey.jpg

http://nylon.net/sabrina/x/sabrina-askey2.jpg

i remember putting "people looking for reasons to be offended/annoyed" as one of my answers on the "what is wrong with the world" thread

I wish that this thread had existed so that I could have referenced it.

A load of old bollocks.

I have heard this expression used a couple of times down the pub lately.

Do you use it? Have you heard it used? Do you know where it originated? Are you constantly amazed that other people talk differently to you?

the fast show? wasn't there a character that used "a load of old bollocks" as a punchline?

I think you might be right. But surely that programme isn't trendy any more? Maybe it's just people trying to appear "right on".

but "a load of old bollocks" used to be very popular. It's only now you mention it that I realise it has declined in popularity.

this reminds me of the showbiz expression "get" as in "mira sorvino? we need a better get than that"