Friday, March 14, 2008

You did say!

Here's another one that drives me batty every time I hear it. It's almost like nails on a chalkboard, but not quite. When a conversation is moving quickly--it may be smalltalk before a conference call, after initial introductions at a party, or anytime when the participants aren't terribly familiar with each other-- you may hear (or may even use yourself) the phrase "I was gonna say..."

I have come across this most when someone is trying to say something funny, but doesn't want to come right out and say it. I'm not sure if this is a confidence thing, a way of redirecting the conversation back, or a way of proving that you actually are funny. Without knowing more about the person, it's hard to tell. Interestingly enough, the people that say this tend to be reserved people, so you can't really get to know them. Perhaps it is a confidence thing.

This is a difficult one to provide an example of, but I guessing everyone has heard it at some point in their lives--you may even be guilty of using it. About the only counter I can think of is commenting back "You weren't gonna say, you did say." This has the effect of providing an uncomfortable pause in the conversation. Eventually the person doing it may get the hint, or they may think you're the worst human being ever. Either way, you probably won't hear it from that person nearly as much.

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