"Me too" or "You too"?
Michael
With statements like:
"Nice to meet you."
"I look forward in meeting you."
Should the response be "Me too." or "You too."? Is it "me too" for the
first statement, and "you too" for the second?
Regards,
Michael
CyberCypher
> Hi,
> With statements like:
> "Nice to meet you."
> "I look forward in meeting you."
"look forward to"
> Should the response be "Me too." or "You too."? Is it "me too" for
> the first statement, and "you too" for the second?
"Nice to meet you too" is one standard response. In movies that like to
have lower-class women attempt to mimic their social superiors, you
will also hear "Likewise, I'm sure".
The response "Me too" is much too perfunctory, and "You too" is
illogical and not idiomatic.
--
Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
For email, replace numbers with English alphabet.
John Seeliger
news:Xns959C85B5E...@130.133.1.4...
> Michael wrote on 09 Nov 2004:
>
>> Hi,
>> With statements like:
>> "Nice to meet you."
>> "I look forward in meeting you."
>
> "look forward to"
>
>> Should the response be "Me too." or "You too."? Is it "me too" for
>> the first statement, and "you too" for the second?
>
> "Nice to meet you too" is one standard response. In movies that like to
> have lower-class women attempt to mimic their social superiors, you
> will also hear "Likewise, I'm sure".
>
> The response "Me too" is much too perfunctory, and "You too" is
> illogical and not idiomatic.
There was a Dilbert strip where he had AWS (Attractive Woman Syndrome) and
he meet the new woman at work and when introduced to her freaks out and says
"It's a pleasure to meet me. I hope you never find a live turtle in your
soup."
Tony Cooper
Someone's going to tell you "The correct response is .........".
That's nonsense. The phrases you wrote above, and all the phrases
like them, are meaningless platitudes that are social conventions we
use as a form of greeting. You can reply with just about any equally
meaningless platitude without offending or causing attention.
Common replies are "It's nice to meet you" with a slight inflection on
the "you" or "It's nice to meet you, too." Or, you can say "It's a
pleasure meeting you" or anything that comes to mind. The person
you're speaking to really isn't going to analyze the statement or even
pay attention to the words. You could say "My hovercraft is full of
eels" and it would slide by if you look the person in the eye and
smile. Your physical reaction and expression is more likely to be
noticed than the words.
People who speak English, especially Americans, don't consider this
type of greeting to be formal or subject to rules. A friendly
expression, a smile, and a firm handshake will serve you better than
worrying about the proper phraseology of greetings. Hold back on the
handshake, though, until the other person gives some indication of
doing so. Some people don't like shaking hands.
R J Valentine
} On 8 Nov 2004 20:54:25 -0800, day...@gmail.com (Michael) wrote:
}
}>Hi,
}>With statements like:
}>"Nice to meet you."
}>"I look forward in meeting you."
}>
}>Should the response be "Me too." or "You too."? Is it "me too" for the
}>first statement, and "you too" for the second?
}
} Someone's going to tell you "The correct response is .........".
} That's nonsense. The phrases you wrote above, and all the phrases
} like them, are meaningless platitudes that are social conventions we
} use as a form of greeting. You can reply with just about any equally
} meaningless platitude without offending or causing attention.
The correct response is "No problem."
} Common replies are "It's nice to meet you" with a slight inflection on
} the "you" or "It's nice to meet you, too." Or, you can say "It's a
} pleasure meeting you" or anything that comes to mind. The person
} you're speaking to really isn't going to analyze the statement or even
} pay attention to the words. You could say "My hovercraft is full of
} eels" and it would slide by if you look the person in the eye and
} smile. Your physical reaction and expression is more likely to be
} noticed than the words.
Someone decades ago reported saying to everyone on a reception line, "I
just shot my mother-in-law." He was caught up short when he realized that
someone several beyond him now had responded just as pleasantly, "She
certainly had it coming." (It's probably googlable.)
} People who speak English, especially Americans, don't consider this
} type of greeting to be formal or subject to rules. A friendly
} expression, a smile, and a firm handshake will serve you better than
} worrying about the proper phraseology of greetings. Hold back on the
} handshake, though, until the other person gives some indication of
} doing so. Some people don't like shaking hands.
And it's the prerogative of the socially senior person to offer. I hear
you're not supposed to hug HM The Queen; but, on her visit to The
Laurelplex (FLMAIA) a few years back, someone did just that (probably
called her "Hon" {= erkIPA [hVn]}, too).
--
R. J. Valentine <mailto:r...@smart.net>
Vivek Khemka
While I am in agreement with Mr. Cooper - i would like to add that some
expressions, as pointed out by Ms. CyberCypher the teacher, are
grammatically incorrect.
For example: While "You too" would be fine in response to "Nice to meet
you"; "Me too" will not be. You are better off saying "My hovercraft is
full of eels" :)
Regards,
Vivek Khemka
Vivek Khemka
While I am in agreement with Mr. Cooper - i would like to add that some
expressions, as pointed out by Ms. CyberCypher the teacher, are
grammatically incorrect.
For example: While "You too" would be fine in response to "Nice to meet
you"; "Me too" will not be. You are better off saying "My hovercraft is
full of eels" :)
Regards,
Vivek Khemka
Vivek Khemka
While I am in agreement with Mr. Cooper - i would like to add that some
expressions, as pointed out by Ms. CyberCypher the teacher, are
grammatically incorrect.
For example: While "You too" would be fine in response to "Nice to meet
you"; "Me too" will not be. You are better off saying "My hovercraft is
full of eels" :)
Regards,
Vivek Khemka
CyberCypher
> Hi,
>
> While I am in agreement with Mr. Cooper - i would like to add that
> some expressions, as pointed out by Ms. CyberCypher the teacher,
> are grammatically incorrect.
>
> For example: While "You too" would be fine in response to "Nice to
> meet you";
It's not fine in my dialect or in any standard dialect of English I
know of. "Nice to meet" is required before the "you too" to be fine.
> "Me too" will not be. You are better off saying "My
> hovercraft is full of eels" :)
This sentence is a fine response to any greeting and an unassailable
answer to any type of question. For example:
A: You're not going to Trader Vic's for dinner tonight, are you?
B: My hovercraft is full of eels.
B is obviously going to have a fish-fry[1] at home tonight.
[1] W3NID: eel
1.a. any of numerous voracious elongate snakelike teleost fishes that
constitute the order Apodes and that have a smooth slimy skin often
without scales, are destitute of pelvic and sometimes of pectoral fins,
and have the median fins confluent around the tail see ANGUILLA,
CONGER EEL, LEPTOCEPHALUS, MORAY
Jacqui
>> For example: While "You too" would be fine in response to "Nice
>> to meet you";
>
> It's not fine in my dialect or in any standard dialect of English
> I know of. "Nice to meet" is required before the "you too" to be
> fine.
Of course it is fine in standard English. It's a recognised contraction
- it's understood that the whole sentence is 'and it's nice to meet you
too' or something similar, but no one wants to bother with the whole
thing for what is, after all, mostly a platitude. There are dozens -
hundreds? - of other similar situations where we use similar verbal
shorthand and no one blinks twice at it.
Jac
CyberCypher
I'm just much more formal than the rest of you native anglophones,
then. I can't remember ever saying "You too" in such a situation, but
that may just be my poor memory because I rarely meet new anglophones
anymore. But I see after a brief gooling of the exchange, that you guys
are right and I'm wrong about standard English, so I retract my
statement.
FB
> "Nice to meet you too" is one standard response. In movies that like to
> have lower-class women attempt to mimic their social superiors, you
> will also hear "Likewise, I'm sure".
>
> The response "Me too" is much too perfunctory, and "You too" is
> illogical and not idiomatic.
Isn't "me, too", just wrong?
"It is nice to meet you"
"Me, too"? "Me, too" what?
Bye, FB
--
L'importante è che risplenda tu, sola primadonna e immarcescibile leggenda
del tuo pianerottolo.
(Lucangel su it.cultura.libri)
CyberCypher
> On 9 Nov 2004 05:08:23 GMT, CyberCypher wrote:
>
>> "Nice to meet you too" is one standard response. In movies that
>> like to have lower-class women attempt to mimic their social
>> superiors, you will also hear "Likewise, I'm sure".
>>
>> The response "Me too" is much too perfunctory, and "You too" is
>> illogical and not idiomatic.
>
> Isn't "me, too", just wrong?
>
> "It is nice to meet you"
>
> "Me, too"? "Me, too" what?
Nice to meet me too.
You're right. It's just wrong.
Adrian Bailey
news:429c032d.04110...@posting.google.com...
"You too" for both, but neither usage is particularly acceptable. A full
response is preferred:
"Nice to meet you too".
"I look forward to meeting you too."
Sorry, that's just the way it is.
Adrian
Michael Nitabach
news:429c032d.04110...@posting.google.com:
"Same here" is an idiomatic response in the United States.
--
Mike Nitabach
Maria Conlon
> But I see after a brief gooling of the exchange, that you
> guys are right and I'm wrong about standard English, so I retract my
> statement.
Is that anything like drooling?
(Sorry. It just stuck me funny -- and started my day off with a big
smile. Thank you very much.)
Maria Conlon
Maria Conlon
> Michael wrote:
>> Hi,
>> With statements like:
>> "Nice to meet you."
>> "I look forward in meeting you."
>>
>> Should the response be "Me too." or "You too."? Is it "me too" for
>> the first statement, and "you too" for the second?
>
> "You too" for both, but neither usage is particularly acceptable. A
> full response is preferred:
>
> "Nice to meet you too".
> "I look forward to meeting you too."
>
> Sorry, that's just the way it is.
Well, perhaps "I *looked* forward to meeting you, too" or "I was looking
forward to meeting you, as well." (Both of which are a bit formal, and
possibly too wordy for some situations.)
And here are two possibilities I haven't seen mentioned yet: "My
pleasure!" or "The pleasure is all mine."
Maria Conlon
CyberCypher
> CyberCypher wrote, in part:
>
>> But I see after a brief gooling of the exchange, that you
>> guys are right and I'm wrong about standard English, so I retract my
>> statement.
>
> Is that anything like drooling?
The way some people treat it, yes. :-)
> (Sorry. It just stuck me funny -- and started my day off with a big
> smile. Thank you very much.)
Any time I can make a Republican smile instead of snarl is a good day
to die.
Jess Askin
"FB" <fam.baldu...@tin.it> wrote in message
news:777wj7sw8jud.2...@40tude.net...
> On 9 Nov 2004 05:08:23 GMT, CyberCypher wrote:
>
> > "Nice to meet you too" is one standard response. In movies that like to
> > have lower-class women attempt to mimic their social superiors, you
> > will also hear "Likewise, I'm sure".
> >
> > The response "Me too" is much too perfunctory, and "You too" is
> > illogical and not idiomatic.
>
> Isn't "me, too", just wrong?
>
> "It is nice to meet you"
>
> "Me, too"? "Me, too" what?
It's not quite logical in this example, but with a small change it's
perfectly appropriate:
"I enjoyed our conversation."
"Me too."
Jess Askin
"R J Valentine" <r...@smart.net> wrote in message
news:10p0n9b...@corp.supernews.com...
So did Jimmy Carter, famously, when he was president. She was not amused.
Jess Askin
"Tony Cooper" <tony_co...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:khk0p0p47tp3ai7a8...@4ax.com...
When I was growing up the rule was, it's OK to offer your hand to a man but
not a woman. If she puts her hand out, then it's OK to shake it (or kiss it,
if you're French and over 50).
But these days who knows what the rule is. It seems to me I don't see people
shaking hands as much as they used to; maybe that's out of uncertainty (is
he germ-o-phobic? will she sue me for sexual harassment?).
I'm also told that if you visit Japan, you can expect to shake hands a lot
more than you do here.
Sara Lorimer
> When I was growing up the rule was, it's OK to offer your hand to a man but
> not a woman.
And that's why women have such a hard time figuring out what to do --
neither of us wants to go first.
--
SML
Dignity, always dignity.
Donna Richoux
It supposed to have been the Queen *Mother*, not the Queen, and it was a
kiss, whether or not it was a hug:
TIME EUROPE
July 24, 2000, Vol. 156 No. 4
[The Queen Mother] dislikes Jimmy Carter because he
greeted her with a kiss on the lips. "Nobody has
done that since my husband died," she fumed.
Although the anecdote is repeated in a few places, I don't find any
reference to when it was supposed to have happened.
--
Best -- Donna Richoux
Charles Riggs
<cyber...@19-16-25-13-01-03.com> wrote:
>Vivek Khemka wrote on 09 Nov 2004:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> While I am in agreement with Mr. Cooper - i would like to add that
>> some expressions, as pointed out by Ms. CyberCypher the teacher,
>> are grammatically incorrect.
>>
>> For example: While "You too" would be fine in response to "Nice to
>> meet you";
>
>It's not fine in my dialect or in any standard dialect of English I
>know of. "Nice to meet" is required before the "you too" to be fine.
I disagree, but I'll ask you just the same, what is the best response
to "Have a wonderful day!!" Is *any* response possible?
I heard it twice on the phone yesterday. Yes, sounded with the double,
at least, exclamation marks. I was so astonished I could only mumble
something those two times, so I'd like to be ready for the next time.
--
Charles Riggs
They are no accented letters in my email address
Ben Zimmer
The first Nexis cite is from 1983:
Washington Post
Personalities, February 15, 1983
Meanwhile, back at the castle, the Queen Mother Elizabeth
let some friends know that she is nursing a grudge against
former president Jimmy Carter, who often seems to have
difficulty doing the right thing. Carter, a London weekly
Observer columnist reports, had inadvisedly kissed the
queen mother on the lips during one his visits to Britain.
"He is the only man, since my dear husband died, to have
the effrontery to kiss me on the lips," she reportedly
said. Her husband, George VI, died in 1952.
Jess Askin
"Ben Zimmer" <bgzi...@midway.uchicago.edu> wrote in message
news:4191151E...@midway.uchicago.edu...
OK, well now I'm not so sure. I have a feeling the Queen Mum didn't go
around whining to friends about untoward things people did in public.
Especially not to "friends" who would leak it to the press. I suspect this
is one of those cases where we'll never know whether she actually said it.
Maria Conlon
> CyberCypher wrote, in part:
>
>> But I see after a brief gooling of the exchange, that you
>> guys are right and I'm wrong about standard English, so I retract my
>> statement.
>
> Is that anything like drooling?
>
> (Sorry. It just stuck me funny
Skitt's Law has struck again.
I'm stricken.
CyberCypher
> On 9 Nov 2004, CyberCypher wrote:
>>Vivek Khemka wrote on 09 Nov 2004:
>>> While I am in agreement with Mr. Cooper - i would like to add
>>> that some expressions, as pointed out by Ms. CyberCypher the
>>> teacher, are grammatically incorrect.
>>>
>>> For example: While "You too" would be fine in response to "Nice
>>> to meet you";
>>
>>It's not fine in my dialect or in any standard dialect of English
>>I know of. "Nice to meet" is required before the "you too" to be
>>fine.
>
> I disagree,
I've already recanted.
> but I'll ask you just the same, what is the best
> response to "Have a wonderful day!!" Is *any* response possible?
"I'll try!!!!!" in falsetto.
> I heard it twice on the phone yesterday. Yes, sounded with the
> double, at least, exclamation marks. I was so astonished I could
> only mumble something those two times, so I'd like to be ready for
> the next time.
--
R J Valentine
...
} I disagree, but I'll ask you just the same, what is the best response
} to "Have a wonderful day!!" Is *any* response possible?
"No problem."
(also fine for responding to apologies, but not for responding to "Thank
you.")
raymond o'hara
> With statements like:
> "Nice to meet you."
> "I look forward in meeting you."
>
> Should the response be "Me too." or "You too."? Is it "me too" for the
> first statement, and "you too" for the second?
>
> Michael
Neither "Me too" or "You too" works for either case.
raymond o'hara
"Jacqui" <sirlawren...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:Xns959C6849E13AAsi...@163.1.2.7...
Howdy and how are two examples of that. "How do you do" was the standard
greeting in the old days before hello was coined , frontier familiarity
casused it to be shortend to howdy among whites and how among indians when
they were greeting whites.An Indian would never say how to another Indian.
p.s. That's arrow Indians and not dot Indians.
Maria Conlon
> p.s. That's arrow Indians and not dot Indians.
The phrase I've heard is "dot or feather" when asking about Indians.
Maria Conlon
the Omrud
> raymond o'hara wrote, in part:
>
> > p.s. That's arrow Indians and not dot Indians.
>
> The phrase I've heard is "dot or feather" when asking about Indians.
I've noticed before that the "default" Indian (from India) in the USA
seems to be the Hindu (cf Apu), who are the ones with dots. Over
here, we're more likely to think first of the Muslim or the Sikh,
although of course the Muslim is more likely to be a Pakistani.
--
David
=====
replace the first component of address
with the definite article.
Charles Riggs
Lorimer) wrote:
>Jess Askin wrote:
>
>> When I was growing up the rule was, it's OK to offer your hand to a man but
>> not a woman.
>
>And that's why women have such a hard time figuring out what to do --
>neither of us wants to go first.
Bellingham is a wonderful town. Not only do women offer their hand for
a handshake, several already have said "Hi" or "Hello" on the street.
Men do that in Ireland all the time, but women rarely do. Those under
20 almost never do in Ireland though, and I suspect I'll find the same
true back here.
the Omrud
> On Tue, 9 Nov 2004 12:52:11 -0500, que.sara....@gmail.com (Sara
> Lorimer) wrote:
>
> >Jess Askin wrote:
> >
> >> When I was growing up the rule was, it's OK to offer your hand to a man but
> >> not a woman.
> >
> >And that's why women have such a hard time figuring out what to do --
> >neither of us wants to go first.
>
> Bellingham is a wonderful town. Not only do women offer their hand for
> a handshake, several already have said "Hi" or "Hello" on the street.
> Men do that in Ireland all the time, but women rarely do. Those under
> 20 almost never do in Ireland though, and I suspect I'll find the same
> true back here.
Oh wow. I thought you were in DC. Now, I am jealous. Mind, it's
going to get cold soon.
Welcome back. Try the microbrewery wheat beer from Seattle.
Don Aitken
wrote:
>Maria Conlon typed thus:
>
>> raymond o'hara wrote, in part:
>>
>> > p.s. That's arrow Indians and not dot Indians.
>>
>> The phrase I've heard is "dot or feather" when asking about Indians.
>
>I've noticed before that the "default" Indian (from India) in the USA
>seems to be the Hindu (cf Apu), who are the ones with dots. Over
>here, we're more likely to think first of the Muslim or the Sikh,
>although of course the Muslim is more likely to be a Pakistani.
There are nearly as many Muslims in India (101.6 million) as in
Pakistan (total population 131.5 million, of whom 96.68% are
officially Muslim, although that proportion is artificially inflated
by the fact that it is officially a Muslim state, and you have to go
to some trouble to be registered as anything else). India has the
fourth-highest Muslim population in the world, after Indonesia,
Bangladesh and Pakistan.
--
Don Aitken
Mail to the addresses given in the headers is no longer being
read. To mail me, substitute "clara.co.uk" for "freeuk.com".
Maria Conlon
> the Omrud wrote:
>> Maria Conlon typed thus:
>>> raymond o'hara wrote, in part:
>>>
>>>> p.s. That's arrow Indians and not dot Indians.
>>>
>>> The phrase I've heard is "dot or feather" when asking about Indians.
>>
>> I've noticed before that the "default" Indian (from India) in the USA
>> seems to be the Hindu (cf Apu), who are the ones with dots. Over
>> here, we're more likely to think first of the Muslim or the Sikh,
>> although of course the Muslim is more likely to be a Pakistani.
>
> There are nearly as many Muslims in India (101.6 million) as in
> Pakistan (total population 131.5 million, of whom 96.68% are
> officially Muslim, although that proportion is artificially inflated
> by the fact that it is officially a Muslim state, and you have to go
> to some trouble to be registered as anything else). India has the
> fourth-highest Muslim population in the world, after Indonesia,
> Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Interesting. Hindu does indeed seem to be (or seems to have been) the
default here when thinking of Indians from India. However, that says
nothing about how many of the India Indians here are actually Hindu.
They may well be in the minority, AFAIK.
Even so, "dot or feather" is a workable determinant, though it may not
be particularly correct (or nice).
Maria Conlon
When you arrive in Europe and change your money, they always give you
100-euro bills. What they don't tell you is that nobody in Europe wants
to take these bills: Everybody wants something smaller. Many American
tourists in Europe, unable to purchase food, are forced to survive by
eating their currency. (Dave Barry, during the 2004 Summer Olympics in
Athens, Greece.)
Tony Cooper
wrote:
>Charles Riggs typed thus:
>
>> On Tue, 9 Nov 2004 12:52:11 -0500, que.sara....@gmail.com (Sara
>> Lorimer) wrote:
>>
>> >Jess Askin wrote:
>> >
>> >> When I was growing up the rule was, it's OK to offer your hand to a man but
>> >> not a woman.
>> >
>> >And that's why women have such a hard time figuring out what to do --
>> >neither of us wants to go first.
>>
>> Bellingham is a wonderful town. Not only do women offer their hand for
>> a handshake, several already have said "Hi" or "Hello" on the street.
>> Men do that in Ireland all the time, but women rarely do. Those under
>> 20 almost never do in Ireland though, and I suspect I'll find the same
>> true back here.
>
>Oh wow. I thought you were in DC. Now, I am jealous. Mind, it's
>going to get cold soon.
>
Aggie joke:
A group of students from Texas A&M decided to get politically involved
and march on Washington to air their dissatisfaction. Three days
later they were just outside of Bellingham.
Jacqui
> the Omrud wrote:
>>I've noticed before that the "default" Indian (from India) in the
>>USA seems to be the Hindu (cf Apu), who are the ones with dots.
>>Over here, we're more likely to think first of the Muslim or the
>>Sikh, although of course the Muslim is more likely to be a
>>Pakistani.
>
> There are nearly as many Muslims in India (101.6 million) as in
> Pakistan
Sure. But the majority of perceived "Indians" in the UK are actually
from Bangladesh and Pakistan (or Uganda and Kenya). So any 'known'
Indian that the average Brit thinks of when asked is statistically more
likely to be a Muslim from Pakistan than a Hindu from India.
Jac
jerry_f...@yahoo.com
...
> I'm also told that if you visit Japan, you can expect to shake hands
a lot
> more than you do here.
If you were a Hispanic teenager or man here in northern New Mexico, I
think you could expect to shake hands, gosh, I don't know, fifty or a
hundered times per day. In the weight room at my college (which may
have more than its share of male bonding), a lot of guys shake hands
with everyone they know when they arrive and then again when they
leave. Is that about the Japanese level?
These are two- or three-stage handshakes that I believe date to the
Vietnam era. Anglos may get offered standard handshakes instead
(mismatches sometimes occur), either in the belief that we don't have
the skill for Chicano style or because we're not members of the lodge.
Or for some stranger reason. The middle-schooler I tutor every week
does a three-stage handshake with his friend who comes to some of the
sessions, but when I did that with him he told me he didn't like to
because he thought it was disrespectful on his part. Is it
disrespectful for him and his buddy? Maybe he meant "overly familiar".
--
Jerry Friedman