I've heard it explained that "hey" used to be more of an urgent way to get someone's attention, rather than a casual "hello" like it is now, so it sounded rude to some older folks.
Teachers in 2023: “NOOO you can’t end your sentences with ‘fr fr nocap skibidi’ those aren’t even real words!”
2033:
2033: "Why would you say any of that corny old shit? You sloopy old frond!"
2035: We flippin' grunts out here or what?
Me n my grepies outta die sinkies by flipoin grunts
Seriously. The "Fr fr no cap" is closer to our generations "Swag yolo". Or the past generations "Tubular"
When I was a waiter, there was no shortage of boomers getting genuinely upset with me saying "No problem" as a reply to "thanks".
I prefer to say no problem over you're welcome cuz it always (to me) sounds sarcastic/disingenuous when I say you're welcome
It's like this:
You have a boss. A wrinkled plus-sized brown business jacket of a man whose idea of "cutting costs" is turning the air conditioner off. If he caught on fire, you wouldn't piss on him to put him out. How do you address him? "Good morning Mr. Perkins, how are you doing today?"
You've got a war buddy. You met at boot camp, you served in the same company, he splinted your leg in the field, you're his kids' godfather. You'd kill and die for this man. How do you address him? "Ah god not this fucking asshole again."
Official formal polite language like "Thank you" and "You're welcome" is the pair of nitrile gloves I put on to handle the really noxious shit that comes my way. "w'thanks man" and "no problem" means I'm willing to handle you with my bare skin.
"No problem" also carries the implication that the favor was taken and done without ill will, where "you're welcome" carries one of superiority
Ugggggh I went through this with my (boomer) boss for years until she finally accepted it lmao. Then it was, "WORRIES, CaptFeather! WORRIES!" as a joke every time I said it lol
It was "yo" for me. Any time I used it some old shit would complain. My mom called it n-word speak. Me and my mom don't talk.
I use it daily, mostly out of spite.
She wasn't ok with yo but the n word was ok? Hahaha wtf old people be crazy
My mom was about 35 when she said that. Went to services every weekend.
I'm glad that the attitude that if you don't speak "correctly," then you are not worth engaging with is dying out.
Well, on the grammar front, anyway.
I'm glad the "not worth engaging with" attitude is dying out, but I do still think it's important to push for people to communicate accurately and effectively, which includes understanding and following grammatical rules when needed.
Language and vocabulary are essential to how we think and collectively problem-solve.
Yep, I get the "Language is constantly evolving" argument, but if I have to read your sentence three times just to parse it because you were too lazy to press a few keys, I'd consider that disrespectful to whomever is reading your comments
"Hej," pronounced "hey" is Swedish for "hello." Also "Hej hej" these days if you want to be more casual. It seemed weird to me at first, like "Hej mormor," for "Hello, grandmother," seemed informal, but if I said, "God afton," (good afternoon) my cousins said I sounded like a government issued language tape.
In the nineties, i had an old guy respond "'Hey' is the first stage of horse shit.". I still use it to this day.
Was there really a cause behind that? I always thought it was people just being silly.
Both, really. Some people enjoyed it, some people wanted it to stop.
It could also have been just that - an old joke that everyone liked responding with when they had the chance.
That is how I always perceived it. I can't even imagine someone saying that with a straight face as a correcting rebuke.
My grandfather used to say that, but it was more of in a dad joke way rather than a 'you shouldn't say that' way.
"Hay is for horses" is such a dope saying. I loved it, horses are dope.
Exactly. I thought it was just a silly joke to open up conversation.
In Germany we have something similar. Our word for Hey, "Hai" actually has two meanings. Obviously it means "Hey" but also "Shark"
So it was common to respond with either "Where" or the more famous "Fish"
If you went for Fish it turned into a silly game of trying to compound the word as much as possible in responses to each other. Usually going like "Hey" "Fish" "Fin" "Soup". Sharkfish fin soup
I think someone took a dad joke too seriously.
I remember my mom getting uptight over the word "sucks", as in "that sucks" or "it really sucked". Literally everyone was saying it, there was no way I could help it lol
I still say this to my kids because they don’t understand why and it’s hilarious.
In 2005 'Hello there - General Kenobi!' became the acceptable greeting amongst teenagers and old timers. Lets bring it back.
I fought in the hey/hay wars in my early childhood. Weost many good soldiers, but their sacrifice was not in vain.
A few years ago a very boomer gen-xer tried this on me and got very enraged when I would say "hey" instead of "hello {his name}". At one point even threatened me.
My old man used to say (in a sing-song voice):
Hay is for horses
Sometimes cows
Chickens would eat it
But they don't know how
My grandpa would do this to me when I was a kid, but it was never in like a rude way. It was just one of the funny ways we would mess with each other.
Not once did someone say that to me in a corrective or condescending way. It was always a playful joke.
In elementary school we used to say "hay is for horses, and cows like you!".
They're gone now but moved on to inside our government
We all should have anticipated that after the "don't say gay" law, there will be a "don't say hey" law
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