Comments | butter_fly_: "what's up?" / "nothing"

butter_fly_

"what's up?" / "nothing"

Jan 25, 2006 11:23

one of my pet peeves is when i'll ask somebody "what's up?" or "what're you thinking about?" and they reply "nothing". strictly speaking this answer may be true but i have finally figured out what i don't like about it: it's a conversation-killer.* prior to this i have cultivated a practice of answering "what's up?" and similar questions with ( Read more... )

Comments 8

butter_fly_ January 25 2006, 17:49:47 UTC

also! i was focusing on the conversation-killer aspect when i was writing this post earlier, but i've realized something else. when i ask "what's up?" i'm showing interest in you and your life. i suppose there are people who ask "what's up?" out of habit and that there are people who don't really mean it, but i'm willing to bet that if we never knew what sort of response we'd get, we'd all be more interested. if i'm talking to you, it means i think you're interesting and i care about you to one degree or another, so please do me the courtesy of letting me know that my interest and caring aren't misplaced.

queenofolupitoo January 25 2006, 18:35:16 UTC

Perhaps someone is assuming that you have ar reason to initiate conversation and by not much they mean "please let us discuss what it was that you really want to talk about." Of course than they usually say "not much. You?" I often say, "Not much. How are you?" especially since people say it in passing when you're clearly both on your way to class.

Now what's up with me? I have too many classes today and trying to decide on paper topics and being scolded for not being able to sing. I have also obtained interesting books.

What's up with you?

butter_fly_ January 25 2006, 18:55:57 UTC

right, i don't get nearly as irritated when they turn it around to ask about me. i still feel a bit slighted because i didn't get to find out what is new and exciting in their lives (yet) but at least the conversation is still alive.

sounds like your life is hectic right now. almost makes me miss being a student. almost. ;) good luck with everything. and! interesting books! what are they about?

what is up with me is that i am still intrigued by conversations of all types and i am considering that there should be classes in conversational english. i'm going to make a syllabus! any suggestions for topics that are essential to this class?

queenofolupitoo January 26 2006, 01:12:38 UTC

Conversational English...that sounds like an ESL course, but a cool idea. Would it be a linguistics class or a practical class? Maybe studying local dialects of slang/socially expected responses ( ... )

ballykissinger January 25 2006, 18:52:25 UTC

What if you are just seeing someone in passing and they say "How are you?" but they don't really want to know how you are, they just want to acknowledge "You Exist and I Am Acquainted With You." Also, this can lead to the equally fatal conversational gambit, "Christ, haven't you ever heard of 'small talk?'"

Nevertheless...

What's up with me? I am in a pretty foul mood. I am extremely angry at two people who I thought were trustworthy friends and who turned out to be the exact opposite; and I had a dissapointing experience vis a vis my planned internship at Fairview hospital.

butter_fly_ January 25 2006, 19:25:14 UTC

yeah, "nothing" or "not much" aren't a pet peeves for me in the context of greeting someone in passing. "You Exist and I Am Acquainted With You" is an excellent way of putting it. :)

man, that sucks when your friends let you down/turn out not to be friends. that really sucks. what went wrong with your internship? was it not a good experience or did the whole thing fall through?
i wish for you many trustworthy friends who will help you deal with both of these disappointments. and i hope that your foul mood won't persist. let me know if i can be helpful (or distracting) in any way.

ballykissinger January 25 2006, 19:35:07 UTC

Thankfully, nothing that drastic. Just some temporary setbacks on a day when I was looking forward to a rewarding and distracting experience.

headlessanne January 25 2006, 21:25:31 UTC

when ppl ask me i always go into long rants about what really is up with me then when i ask it of them they're just like "nm" and it just angers me!
whats up with me? - im getting my braces off on friday! im going to england in may!!!!!!!! and i finally beat Katamari Damacy (the best video game EVER)!