"Uh huh" instead of "Thank you"
Shirley Owen
American waiters reply "Uh huh" when I say "Thank you." It sounds kind
of rude to me, as if a thank you was expected and they can't be bothered
to say thank you. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I wonder how prevalent
this practice is in the U.S.
Another thing that bothers me is to be commanded to "Enjoy your meal." I
will, if the food is good. Otherwise, I won't. Is this phrase used to
stifle any possible criticism in advance?
Shirley
R. Fontana
> I'm a Canadian, and when I travel to the States I notice that many
> American waiters reply "Uh huh" when I say "Thank you." It sounds kind
> of rude to me, as if a thank you was expected and they can't be bothered
> to say thank you. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I wonder how prevalent
> this practice is in the U.S.
I don't know what's appropriate for the waiter or the person being waited
upon, but "uh huh" or "mm hmm" is reasonably common as a reply to "Thank
you" in the US, and in general it is intended as a polite rather than a
rude response. I wouldn't really expect to hear it from a waiter, though.
RF
Ralph Jones
Shirley Owen wrote:
> I'm a Canadian, and when I travel to the States I notice that many
> American waiters reply "Uh huh" when I say "Thank you." It sounds kind
> of rude to me, as if a thank you was expected and they can't be bothered
> to say thank you. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I wonder how prevalent
> this practice is in the U.S.
It sounds rude to me too. It might also be an indication of a waiter that's
not too bright since I suspect that it affects tips.
> Another thing that bothers me is to be commanded to "Enjoy your meal." I
> will, if the food is good. Otherwise, I won't. Is this phrase used to
> stifle any possible criticism in advance?
I always accept this as a polite wish preceded implicitly by "I hope that
you will" and I always respond with a "Thank you".
--
President Bush had to take whatever he got in the way of
children but when he had a choice he picked Dan Quayle.
- rmj http://www.hal-pc.org/~rmjones
Donna Richoux
> I'm a Canadian, and when I travel to the States I notice that many
> American waiters reply "Uh huh" when I say "Thank you." It sounds kind
> of rude to me, as if a thank you was expected and they can't be bothered
> to say thank you.
Ummm, that last bit doesn't make sense. Did you mean to say, "can't be
bothered to say 'you're welcome'"?
>Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I wonder how prevalent
> this practice is in the U.S.
Actually, etiquette does not require you to thank the waiters for every
little thing they do for you.
I find nothing wrong with a cheerful "Mm-hmm," as an occasional
alternative to "You're welcome" -- it signals acknowledgement of your
thanks and the willingness to provide service. It's the same as "Sure
thing."
You're not suffering from the
suspicious=traveller-ascribing-evil-motives-to-strange-customs illness,
are you? We've had some long threads here about the different customs,
even in the English-speaking world, for "thank you" and "you're
welcome." The customs of another country can startle you but that
doesn't mean they are malicious in origin.
> Another thing that bothers me is to be commanded to "Enjoy your meal." I
> will, if the food is good. Otherwise, I won't. Is this phrase used to
> stifle any possible criticism in advance?
Right, like that will stop people from complaining... It's just a short
form of the wish, "I hope that you enjoy your meal." In many countries
of the world, such a wish is said by everyone in daily life. In the US,
you mostly just hear it in restaurants. Management trains the
waitpersons to say it because, well, they have to say something when
they hand over the food, and it's a lot better than "Take that and shut
up, you old goat you."
Best wishes --- Donna Richoux
Robert Lieblich
>
> Shirley Owen wrote:
<snip>
> > Another thing that bothers me is to be commanded to "Enjoy your meal." I
> > will, if the food is good. Otherwise, I won't. Is this phrase used to
> > stifle any possible criticism in advance?
>
> I always accept this as a polite wish preceded implicitly by "I hope that
> you will" and I always respond with a "Thank you".
In the US, at least, the sports announcers and even some of the "hard
news" types have taken to issuing similar orders. Marty Microphone
interviews Dennis Dunkshot right after Dunkshot's team has won a game.
Three or four question-and-answer pairs, then Microphone turns Dunkshot
loose with "Thanks, Dennis. Now go take your shower." As if Dennis
would walking stinking into the night if Marty hadn't rememered to tell
him to bathe.
Yeah, you'll say, but that's a sports type. Fair enough. But I've
caught Sam Donaldson and even Dan Rather doing it.
Now everybody go enjoy your dinner.
Bob Lieblich
Perchprism
>From: Shirley Owen <s.o...@home.com>
>Date: Sun, 20 June 1999 09:51 AM EDT
>Message-id: <376CF1C1...@home.com>
>
>I'm a Canadian, and when I travel to the States I notice that many
>American waiters reply "Uh huh" when I say "Thank you." It sounds kind
>of rude to me, as if a thank you was expected and they can't be bothered
>this practice is in the U.S.
I prefer a waiter to say nothing at all once he's got my order, but a grunt of
recognition is better than actual speech if I lose my head and thank him during
the meal.
>Another thing that bothers me is to be commanded to "Enjoy your meal." I
>will, if the food is good. Otherwise, I won't. Is this phrase used to
>stifle any possible criticism in advance?
You're like me. I always want to reply to "Have a nice day" with "Don't tell me
what kind of day to have." The difference between us might be that I recognize
this quirk in my thinking as a mild mental illness to be shrugged away when it
appears. Ignore them, you'll digest better. They're just using a stock phrase
meaning "I'm going to go and tend to my other tables, so if you need anything,
now's your last chance to say something for a while, unless you don't mind
throwing me off my stride two minutes from now by flagging me down in the
middle of getting someone else that fresh cup of coffee you were too dumb to
ask for now."
Perchprism
(Southern New Jersey, near Philadelphia, USA)
Christina and Tom
> I'm a Canadian, and when I travel to the States I notice that many
> American waiters reply "Uh huh" when I say "Thank you." It sounds kind
> of rude to me, as if a thank you was expected and they can't be bothered
> to say thank you. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I wonder how prevalent
> this practice is in the U.S.
>
> Another thing that bothers me is to be commanded to "Enjoy your meal." I
> will, if the food is good. Otherwise, I won't. Is this phrase used to
> stifle any possible criticism in advance?
>
> Shirley
When I went to Ireland 15 years ago, I remember the waitress at our hotel in
Dublin saying "There!" when she gave us our food.
I have also encountered the American "uh huh" on the phone as well as in
restaurants, and a pet peeve of my mother's is when wait staff ask, "Is
everything all right at this table?" as if they expect the table to reply. I
don't think the "uh huh" is rude; it's just their way of saying, "You're
welcome".
Christina
Reinhold (Rey) Aman
> I'm a Canadian, and when I travel to the States I notice that many
> American waiters reply "Uh huh" when I say "Thank you." It sounds kind
> of rude to me, as if a thank you was expected and they can't be bothered
> to say thank you. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I wonder how prevalent
> this practice is in the U.S.
>
> Another thing that bothers me is to be commanded to "Enjoy your meal." I
> will, if the food is good. Otherwise, I won't. Is this phrase used to
> stifle any possible criticism in advance?
No. "Enjoy your meal" is the lame American equivalent of French
"Bon appétit!", German "Guten Appetit!", Spanish "¡Que aproveche!"
(etc.), Dutch "Smakelijk (eten)!" and similar polite phrases.
--
Reinhold (Rey) Aman
Editor & Publisher, MALEDICTA
Santa Rosa, CA 95402, USA
http://www.sonic.net/maledicta/
Mike Barnes
>I
>don't think the "uh huh" is rude; it's just their way of saying, "You're
>welcome".
I'm with you so far, but what is "you're welcome" saying?
--
-- Mike Barnes, Stockport, England.
-- If you post a response to Usenet, please *don't* send me a copy by e-mail.
Skitt
Mike Barnes <mi...@exodus.co.uk> wrote in message
news:+0Lq4aAp...@exodus.u-net.com...
> In alt.usage.english, Christina and Tom <tal...@interlog.com> wrote
> >I
> >don't think the "uh huh" is rude; it's just their way of saying, "You're
> >welcome".
>
> I'm with you so far, but what is "you're welcome" saying?
It is a polite phrase, prescribed by "proper" etiquette, meaning that you
are welcome to whatever you were thanking for. But you knew that.
--
Skitt (on Florida's Space Coast) http://skitt.i.am/
CAUTION: My veracity is under a limited warranty
George F. Hardy
>
>Shirley Owen wrote:
>> I'm a Canadian, and when I travel to the States I notice that many
>> American waiters reply "Uh huh" when I say "Thank you."
Thus, not instead of "Thank you", but in response to it. The
use of "Uh huh" in the case noted is a positive, but short,
response. While positive, it also indicates no desire to continue
the conversation. Waiters are not in the restaurant to converse with
you; they are there to serve food.
GFH
Bill Palmer
<tal...@interlog.com> writes:
Pig says "Huh?"
When you pull his tail
he says "Uh huh."
(Read it aloud fast, in a sing-song, rustic manner.)
--That's a folk saying from the rural U. S.
and it seems to me--in its pithy fashion--
to contain a rather profound commentary
on this issue.
Bill Palmer
alt.genius.bill-palmer
>
>Shirley Owen wrote:
>
>> I'm a Canadian, and when I travel to the States I notice that many
>> American waiters reply "Uh huh" when I say "Thank you." It sounds
kind
>> of rude to me, as if a thank you was expected and they can't be
bothered
>> to say thank you. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I wonder how
prevalent
>> this practice is in the U.S.
>>
>> Another thing that bothers me is to be commanded to "Enjoy your
meal." I
>> will, if the food is good. Otherwise, I won't. Is this phrase used
to
>> stifle any possible criticism in advance?
>>
>> Shirley
>
>When I went to Ireland 15 years ago, I remember the waitress at our
hotel in
>Dublin saying "There!" when she gave us our food.
>
>I have also encountered the American "uh huh" on the phone as well as
in
>restaurants, and a pet peeve of my mother's is when wait staff ask,
"Is
>everything all right at this table?" as if they expect the table to
reply. I
>don't think the "uh huh" is rude; it's just their way of saying,
"You're
>welcome".
>
>Christina
>
Gwen Lenker
wrote:
>In alt.usage.english, Christina and Tom <tal...@interlog.com> wrote
>>I
>>don't think the "uh huh" is rude; it's just their way of saying, "You're
>>welcome".
>
>I'm with you so far, but what is "you're welcome" saying?
"I understand that I'm expected to make some sort of ritual noise at
this point in our interaction, and my personal experience suggests
that there is a reasonable likelihood that there is sufficient
evidence to support the supposition that perhaps the noise I'm making
is the noise you expect me to make. Or at least I hope so."
Benny H Quay
restaurant. These waiters/waitresses serve you, are your servants for
the time you sit in the restaurant. Thank them after you have eaten if
you ]feel inclined. Tip them for their good service irrespective of the
quality of the food. Never give them a bad time though: who knows what
they do to your food back there in the kitchen. Accounts for the many
times Perchprism suffered a stomach ache whens s/he eats out.
I just nod at them when they bring my meal. They probably think I do not
speak English well. Say, Bun Mui, how do you treat these "wait persons"?
The cross-cultural difference always intrigues me. Good allah, in
Bangladesh, I have seen customers scream and hit the waiters.
Ah, the tryranny of the service people in North America, eh?
Perchprism (perch...@aol.com) wrote:
: Shirley wrote:
: >From: Shirley Owen <s.o...@home.com>
: >Date: Sun, 20 June 1999 09:51 AM EDT
: >Message-id: <376CF1C1...@home.com>
: >
: >I'm a Canadian, and when I travel to the States I notice that many
: >American waiters reply "Uh huh" when I say "Thank you." It sounds kind
: >of rude to me, as if a thank you was expected and they can't be bothered
: >to say thank you. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I wonder how prevalent
: >this practice is in the U.S.
: I prefer a waiter to say nothing at all once he's got my order, but a grunt of
: recognition is better than actual speech if I lose my head and thank him during
: the meal.
: >Another thing that bothers me is to be commanded to "Enjoy your meal." I
: >will, if the food is good. Otherwise, I won't. Is this phrase used to
: >stifle any possible criticism in advance?
: You're like me. I always want to reply to "Have a nice day" with "Don't tell me
Mike Barnes
>> >I
>> >don't think the "uh huh" is rude; it's just their way of saying, "You're
>> >welcome".
>>
>> I'm with you so far, but what is "you're welcome" saying?
>
>are welcome to whatever you were thanking for. But you knew that.
Well, yes, when "thank you" really does indicate thanks, what you say
may well be true. But often "thank you" is not thanking anyone for
anything, it's simply a (polite) dismissal. In this case "uh-huh" could
be interpreted as "OK, I'm going", and "you're welcome" doesn't come
into it.
Hale Bopp
George F. Hardy wrote in message
<376e4...@news.rlc.net>...
>In article <376e0d13...@news.golden.net>,
will...@bigfoot.com (Willondon Donovan) says:
>>
>>Shirley Owen wrote:
States I notice that many
>>> American waiters reply "Uh huh" when I say
"Thank you."
>
to it. The
>use of "Uh huh" in the case noted is a positive,
but short,
>response. While positive, it also indicates no
desire to continue
>the conversation. Waiters are not in the
restaurant to converse with
>you; they are there to serve food.
>
>GFH
I would have thought they were there to help make
one's visit pleasant by being both efficient and
courteous.
Most people I know (in several English-speaking
countries) would consider "uh huh" a discourteous
response to a courteous remark.
Hale Bopp
Jack Gavin
Mimi Kahn wrote in message <3770d3ba...@news.mindspring.com>...
>On 21 Jun 1999 20:13:42 GMT, bq...@uoguelph.ca (Benny H Quay) wrote:
>
>>Methinks that there is just too much thanking by the customer in a
>>restaurant. These waiters/waitresses serve you, are your servants for
>>the time you sit in the restaurant. Thank them after you have eaten if
>>you ]feel inclined. Tip them for their good service irrespective of the
>>quality of the food.
>
>thank them if they brought me something. 'Tis the way I was brought
>up. If I have to err, I'd rather do it on the side of politeness.
>
Might you make due (after the third refill of your water glass) with eye
contact + nod + weak smile?
--
Jack Gavin
Yvaqryy O. Wbarf, We.
-0700, "Reinholed (Fast Food) Aman" <am...@sonic.net> wrote:
>Shirley Owen wrote:
>
>> I'm a Canadian, and when I travel to the States I notice that many
>> American waiters reply "Uh huh" when I say "Thank you." It sounds kind
>> of rude to me, as if a thank you was expected and they can't be bothered
>> to say thank you. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I wonder how prevalent
>> this practice is in the U.S.
>>
>> Another thing that bothers me is to be commanded to "Enjoy your meal." I
>> will, if the food is good. Otherwise, I won't. Is this phrase used to
>> stifle any possible criticism in advance?
>
> No. "Enjoy your meal" is the lame American equivalent of French
>"Bon appétit!", German "Guten Appetit!", Spanish "¡Que aproveche!"
>(etc.), Dutch "Smakelijk (eten)!" and similar polite phrases.
What the hell would Reinholed know about this subject? To him, a fine
meal is a Taco Supreme with an extra packet of hot sauce or a double
Whopper.
Instead of phrases like Reinholed quotes above (which he undoubtedly
read from his book collection), he normally hears such phrases as
"Small, medium, or large?," "For here or to go?," and the ever-famous
"Would you like fries with that?"
Even if one of the minimum-wage workers at his local Taco Shell or
Booger Fling did mutter something as polite as "Enjoy your meal,"
Reinholed would probably idiotically respond with a "you, too."
See the Uuuugly & Utterly Stupid "Reinhold Aman":
http://www.sonic.net/maledicta/images/aman_head.jpg
--
Everything You Never Wanted To Know About Grandpa Reinholed
And The Toilet Paper Known As "Male*dick*ta" --->
Matti Lamprhey
news:377219aa...@news.mindspring.com...
<snip>
When Reinhold posts something sensible and useful (which he's doing quite
frequently at the moment), there's no call for you to make a gratuitous
attack like that. I hope R.A. will desist from answering you in kind.
Matti
Reinhold (Rey) Aman
<nj...@cornell.edu> wrote:
[snip]
> If I have to err, I'd rather do it on the side of politeness.
> --
> Mimi
... as everyone can clearly see who reads that polite and refined
Jewish old lady's posts in AUE and "alt.aol-sucks."
Some examples of Mrs. Kahn-Goodman's erring on the side of
politeness:
"C'mon...do you really want to watch Reinhold Aman masturbating to the
Starr Report?"
More about me:
"... one of the most notorious psychopaths on Usenet, a racist,
homophobic, misogynistic, anti-Semitic bigot who has already served
prison time for sending death-threats through the mail."
And:
"Not only are you a miserable bag of shit, you are a miserable, lying
bag of shit."
About Mr. Brad Zimmerman:
"Every so often, he wipes the ejaculate off his keyboard and tries to
flame the living hell out of me...."
Some erring, eh?
--
Reinhold (Rey) Aman, Ph.D.
Skitt
Mimi Kahn <nj...@spamfree.cornell.edu> wrote in message
news:3770d3ba...@news.mindspring.com...
> On 21 Jun 1999 20:13:42 GMT, bq...@uoguelph.ca (Benny H Quay) wrote:
>
> >Methinks that there is just too much thanking by the customer in a
> >restaurant. These waiters/waitresses serve you, are your servants for
> >the time you sit in the restaurant. Thank them after you have eaten if
> >you ]feel inclined. Tip them for their good service irrespective of the
> >quality of the food.
>
> If they were my servants, employed by me in my own home, I'd still
> thank them if they brought me something. 'Tis the way I was brought
I got into a little bit of trouble by being nice and thanking the pretty
maids in my sister-in-law's house in the Philippines for their services, but
that is another story. There, class difference rules!
Skitt
> On Tue, 22 Jun 1999 07:49:58 -0400, "Skitt" <sk...@i.am> wrote:
>
> >I got into a little bit of trouble by being nice and thanking the pretty
> >maids in my sister-in-law's house in the Philippines for their services,
but
> >that is another story. There, class difference rules!
>
>
Oh, just the usual ...
Evan Kirshenbaum
> MeMe "The Lying Moron" Kahn-Goodman
> <nj...@cornell.edu> wrote:
>
> [snip]
>
> > If I have to err, I'd rather do it on the side of politeness.
> > --
> > Mimi
>
> ... as everyone can clearly see who reads that polite and
> refined Jewish old lady's posts in AUE and "alt.aol-sucks."
>
> Some examples of Mrs. Kahn-Goodman's erring on the side of
> politeness:
>
> "C'mon...do you really want to watch Reinhold Aman masturbating to
> the Starr Report?"
[other examples snipped]
> Some erring, eh?
You are asking us to infer relative position from absolute location,
an impossibility. Given your frequent behavior in this group, it is
easy to imagine that these were considerably more polite than was
warranted.
--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
HP Laboratories |When you rewrite a compiler from
1501 Page Mill Road, Building 1U |scratch, you sometimes fix things
Palo Alto, CA 94304 |you didn't know were broken.
| Larry Wall
kirsh...@hpl.hp.com
(650)857-7572
Stephen Toogood
<perch...@aol.com> writes
>Shirley wrote:
>>From: Shirley Owen <s.o...@home.com>
>>Date: Sun, 20 June 1999 09:51 AM EDT
>>Message-id: <376CF1C1...@home.com>
>>
>>American waiters reply "Uh huh" when I say "Thank you." It sounds kind
>>of rude to me, as if a thank you was expected and they can't be bothered
>>to say thank you. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I wonder how prevalent
>>this practice is in the U.S.
>
>recognition is better than actual speech if I lose my head and thank him during
>the meal.
worth, and if nothing else look on it as self-interest. I reckon it's
good manners to treat a waiter as though he were your host. So go on,
lose your head.
>
>>Another thing that bothers me is to be commanded to "Enjoy your meal." I
>>will, if the food is good. Otherwise, I won't. Is this phrase used to
>>stifle any possible criticism in advance?
I have to admit to getting childish amusement from non-plussing them by
taking all these phrases at face value:
"Enjoy your meal"
"I'll do my damnedest; ask me later how I managed"
"Have a nice day"
"I'm sorry, but I have made alternative arrangements"
I was going to say it keeps me off the streets, but I can't help
wondering if it might get me kicked onto the pavement.
--
Stephen Toogood
Stephen Toogood
<gale...@alloy.com> writes
>>>I
>>>don't think the "uh huh" is rude; it's just their way of saying, "You're
>>>welcome".
>>
>>I'm with you so far, but what is "you're welcome" saying?
>
>this point in our interaction, and my personal experience suggests
>that there is a reasonable likelihood that there is sufficient
>evidence to support the supposition that perhaps the noise I'm making
>is the noise you expect me to make. Or at least I hope so."
>
Somebody has to have the last word; you can't go on all night ritually
responding to one another (in English usage)
Now is the opportunity to tell you about Mr. Man.
He ran a local shop round the corner from where I lived when I was an
undergraduate. He wasn't used to being thanked, it seemed, and we
quickly discovered that he would always escalate our thanks in reply. If
we got in first with 'thank you' he'd reply 'thank you very much'.
Soon we went straight in with 'thank you very much' to which we got
'thank you very much indeed'.
We began to wonder what the next stage would be. Almost with trepidation
did we go round for a packet of sugar.
'thank you very much indeed'
'can you manage like that?'
This departure caused some consternation, I can tell you. It took us a
while to work out how we could escalate from this point, and I fear I
cannot remember exactly what we said next. But the response was
'would you like a piece of paper to wrap it up in?'
There was probably a PhD in this, but it was June, we moved out, and the
whole area was razed to the ground, except for the pub, which is still
there.
The only record of Mr. Man's shop is its appearance (along with my
bedroom window) in the first five minutes of 'Saturday Night and Sunday
Morning', with Albert Finney standing outside.
Or am I boring you?
--
Stephen Toogood
a1a5...@bc.sympatico.ca
<ste...@stenches.nospam.demon.co.uk> wrote:
[ ]
>Now is the opportunity to tell you about Mr. Man.
>
>He ran a local shop round the corner from where I lived when I was an
>undergraduate. He wasn't used to being thanked, it seemed, and we
>quickly discovered that he would always escalate our thanks in reply. If
>we got in first with 'thank you' he'd reply 'thank you very much'.
>
>Soon we went straight in with 'thank you very much' to which we got
>'thank you very much indeed'.
>
>We began to wonder what the next stage would be. Almost with trepidation
>did we go round for a packet of sugar.
>
>'thank you very much indeed'
>'can you manage like that?'
>
>This departure caused some consternation, I can tell you. It took us a
>while to work out how we could escalate from this point, and I fear I
>cannot remember exactly what we said next. But the response was
>'would you like a piece of paper to wrap it up in?'
>
>There was probably a PhD in this, but it was June, we moved out, and the
>whole area was razed to the ground, except for the pub, which is still
>there.
>
>The only record of Mr. Man's shop is its appearance (along with my
>bedroom window) in the first five minutes of 'Saturday Night and Sunday
>Morning', with Albert Finney standing outside.
>
>Or am I boring you?
>Stephen Toogood
Of course not, and it certainly shows that you were more than
marginally more civilized than certain of the Beatles. A witness
has confided that from the upper windows of the Liverpudlian
College of Art (I think that's close to what it's actually
called) some of them used to make loud disparaging comments on
passers-by.
JB
> <perch...@aol.com> writes
> >Shirley wrote:
> >>Another thing that bothers me is to be commanded to "Enjoy your meal." I
> >>will, if the food is good. Otherwise, I won't. Is this phrase used to
> >>stifle any possible criticism in advance?
>
> I have to admit to getting childish amusement from non-plussing them by
> taking all these phrases at face value:
>
> "Enjoy your meal"
> "I'll do my damnedest; ask me later how I managed"
>
> "Have a nice day"
> "I'm sorry, but I have made alternative arrangements"
>
> I was going to say it keeps me off the streets, but I can't help
> wondering if it might get me kicked onto the pavement.
Am I the only one who hears the implied [May you] preceding these stock
phrases? --JB
Yvaqryy O. Wbarf, We.
10:24:34 -0700, Evan Kirshenbaum <ev...@garrett.hpl.hp.com> wrote:
>"Reinhold (Rey) Aman" <am...@sonic.net> writes:
<snip>
>>
>> Some examples of Mrs. Kahn-Goodman's erring on the side of
>> politeness:
>>
>> "C'mon...do you really want to watch Reinhold Aman masturbating to
>> the Starr Report?"
>
>[other examples snipped]
>
>> Some erring, eh?
>
>You are asking us to infer relative position from absolute location,
>an impossibility.
To Reinholed, this is too similar to Einstein's Theory of Relativity.
Considering that Reinholed is extremely prejudiced against Jews, I
doubt he'd even think of learning about such things. And even so, his
brainlet is incapable of understanding anything even remotely
scientific.
Aman only knows that which he reads in his books, mostly about any of
the many languages in which he claims to be fluent. Other than that,
he's an idiot. As many will recall, when I referred to objects in
outer space produced by huge, dead stars as "black holes," Reinholed
couldn't wait to accuse me of being racist because he was so stupid he
thought I was referring to a black woman's reproductive organs (note
that Reinholed tends to think everything has a sexual connotation -
not unusual for a man (?) who isn't getting any).
Somehow I doubt he even knows that the United States Mint does not
mint "pennies" (the U.S. coins are technically "cents," not
"pennies"). He probably also thinks that Rhode Island is an island and
Long Island is a state, and that magnets are somehow magical. And I
sincerely doubt he could even pronounce most of the words used in
integral calculus, much less understand the mathematics.
>Given your frequent behavior in this group, it is
>easy to imagine that these were considerably more polite than was
>warranted.
It's also quite interesting that he picks Brad Zimmerman when looking
for somebody from alt.aol-sucks with whom to side. Zimmerman's
tantrums are legendary. He's every bit as much a crybaby as Aman.
Birds of a feather, I guess...
Reinhold (Rey) Aman
> Yvaqryy O. Wbarf, We. <ro...@for.my.name.com> wrote in message
> news:377219aa...@news.mindspring.com...
> <snip>
> When Reinhold posts something sensible and useful (which he's doing quite
> frequently at the moment), there's no call for you to make a gratuitous
> attack like that.
Thank you for your *public* support, Matti. Your suggestion won't
do any good, though, as Lindelllll "Mad Mongo" Jones, Junior, is
*obsessed*, in the clinical sense. You might as well try to reason with
a pile of dog excrement.
> I hope R.A. will desist from answering you in kind.
Surely you have noticed that I -- like everyone else -- normally
ignore that genuine madman. However, some of his stupidities are just
too delicious to ignore. Then there are others, like Mongo's recent
"black hole" ravings, that are beyond a reply, even though they scream
out, "Humiliate me even more! Show the others again what a ridiculous
fool I am!"
What I appreciate most about your post is that you have joined the
other three intelligent readers who had the courage to tell Mongo to
shut up. But only John Doherty had the guts to *severely rebuke* that
troglodyte Mongo for using AUE as his vomitorium.
The other noble souls, who feel no compunctions about repeatedly
chastising the Good Doctor, have *cowardly* overlooked the buckets upon
buckets of vomit and excrement Mad Mongo has been pouring into AUE for
more than a year. Not one reprimanding peep out of those
double-standard Respected Regulars....
--
Reinhold (Rey) Aman
N.Mitchum
-----
> The only record of Mr. Man's shop is its appearance (along with my
> bedroom window) in the first five minutes of 'Saturday Night and Sunday
> Morning', with Albert Finney standing outside.
>
> Or am I boring you?
Very much indeed, until at the end you brought in a movie star.
That certainly grabbed my interest, but then you dropped the whole
thing. Not nice to tease.
----NM
Yvaqryy O. Wbarf, We.
-0700, "Reinholed (Duh, Let Me Step In Every Available Pile Of Shit)
Automaton" <am...@sonic.net> defecated:
>Matti Lamprhey wrote:
>
>> Yvaqryy O. Wbarf, We. <ro...@for.my.name.com> wrote in message
>> news:377219aa...@news.mindspring.com...
>
>> <snip>
>
>> When Reinhold posts something sensible and useful (which he's doing quite
>> frequently at the moment), there's no call for you to make a gratuitous
>> attack like that.
>
> Thank you for your *public* support, Matti.
I'm sure he's honored by your thanks. However, there's no denying the
fact that posting something "sensible and useful" does not negate the
despicable shit you've posted before.
Mr. Lamphrey, being relatively new here, perhaps does not remember the
many times you've cowardly attacked those who cannot speak for
themselves, or the times you've used people who have suffered or
currently suffer from unfortunate circumstances to your advantage.
Perhaps he simply doesn't care. (Note that people who just don't care
about such things essentially contribute to the problem by allowing it
to continue). Or perhaps he thinks you should be trained like a dog,
being flamed only for your many idiotic posts and being rewarded for
your good ones (in which case he overestimates you).
However, your continuing bigotry, your blatant and sickening use of
people who have been victims of everything from Alzheimer's to
Multiple Sclerosis to alcohol-related automobile accidents to rape,
and the many other things you do here are simply inexcusible. I will
continue to point out your many flaws as long as you flaunt them
and/or as long as there is a chance to get a good laugh from them.
Perhaps it would have been better to simply ignore your earlier
message since it was, admittedly, not your usual crap. I have never
claimed to be perfect, however. I have and will make mistakes. But at
least I have the balls to admit that I'm wrong.
>Your suggestion won't
>do any good, though, as Lindelllll "Mad Mongo" Jones, Junior, is
>*obsessed*, in the clinical sense. You might as well try to reason with
>a pile of dog excrement.
I'm hardly obsessed with you. The crap you've posted so many times
would offend me if it came from anybody worthy of respect, but you're
simply not. Nothing you can say offends me because when I consider the
source, I just laugh. But I do feel that it should be pointed out to
those unfamiliar with your crap (especially newbies) exactly what you
are so they, too, know better than to give you any respect.
>> I hope R.A. will desist from answering you in kind.
>
> Surely you have noticed that I -- like everyone else -- normally
>ignore that genuine madman.
Yeah, right. You read and fume over my every post everytime I ridicule
you. You haven't been replying to me lately, so if that qualifies as
"ignoring," then you're right. It's obvious to anybody with any shred
of intelligence, however, that you only ignore me because you cannot
match me. I point it out everytime you make an idiot of yourself, and
you're unable to make a real comeback. You cannot prove that you were
not being an idiot because you were, and you cannot attack me without
making yourself look like the complete fool you are (such as when you
brazenly *used* victims of rape in an attempt to put me down).
As for others, my posts here generally don't call for replies from
others. With very few exceptions, my posts are meant to point out your
fuckups and to bait you into making more fuckups. My hope is that
anybody new here who might be inclined to respect you will see that
they shouldn't, and that anybody who already respects you will see
that you are not worthy of such respect. Anybody who already knows
what an idiot you are is more than free to killfile me. Unlike you and
the likes of Piddie/LGB/etc. and Bun Mui, I am not so desperate for
attention that I am annoyed when my posts gather no responses.
>However, some of his stupidities are just
>too delicious to ignore.
You have yet to respond to any of my alleged "delicious stupidities"
without badly embarassing yourself.
>Then there are others, like Mongo's recent
>"black hole" ravings, that are beyond a reply, even though they scream
>out, "Humiliate me even more! Show the others again what a ridiculous
>fool I am!"
They're "beyond a reply" because you are *unable* to "humiliate me" at
all, except in your own sick, out-of-touch-with-reality mindlet. This
sort of thing is a lose-lose situation for you. If you reply, you take
my bait hook, line, and sinker, only succeeding in humiliating
yourself and showing everybody that *you* are the fool. If you don't,
you only show that you haven't the balls to reply because you *know*
you only humiliate yourself. Go ahead and use your thin veil, saying
that my posts aren't worthy or reply. Intelligent readers know that
you are simply too impotent to stand up to my posts. It's similar to
the way you're evidently too impotent to stand up in another way. <eg>
> What I appreciate most about your post is that you have joined the
>other three intelligent readers who had the courage to tell Mongo to
>shut up. But only John Doherty had the guts to *severely rebuke* that
>troglodyte Mongo for using AUE as his vomitorium.
As I have said numerous times before, you have the power to make me
"shut up." Simply leave the newsgroup. As soon as I see the message
that you are leaving, I will post no more unless and until you break
your promise to leave permanently.
Others are more than welcome to killfile or just ignore me.
> The other noble souls, who feel no compunctions about repeatedly
>chastising the Good Doctor, have *cowardly* overlooked the buckets upon
>buckets of vomit and excrement Mad Mongo has been pouring into AUE for
>more than a year. Not one reprimanding peep out of those
>double-standard Respected Regulars....
Did it ever occur to you that some of these "Respected Regulars" find
my posts humorous and enjoy watching me bait you into embarassing
yourself so often? According to my e-mail, this is the case with more
than a few of them. The fact that they like my posts and don't like
yours hardly qualifies them as "cowardly" or as having
"double-standards." Unfortunately, your incredible conceit prevents
you from seeing this.
Once again, as I have pointed out above, you have stepped squarely in
the middle of a huge pile of dog dung. What else is new?
Loser.
Reinhold (Rey) Aman
up on my news server. Here's one worth replying to.]
Author: Evan Kirshenbaum
Date: 1999/06/22
{AMAN:}
MeMe "The Lying Moron" Kahn-Goodman
<nj...@cornell.edu> wrote:
{MORON MeMe:}
If I have to err, I'd rather do it on the side of politeness.
--
Mimi
{AMAN:}
... as everyone can clearly see who reads that polite and
refined Jewish old lady's posts in AUE and "alt.aol-sucks."
Some examples of Mrs. Kahn-Goodman's
erring on the side of politeness:
"C'mon...do you really want to watch Reinhold Aman
masturbating to the Starr Report?" -- MeMe Kahn
{KIRSHENBAUM:}
[other examples snipped]
{AMAN:}
Some erring, eh?
{KIRSHENBAUM:}
> You are asking us to infer relative position from absolute location,
> an impossibility.
Instead of camouflaging your absolute loyalty to that absolutely
tacky sick old sow MeMe Kahn-Goodman with highfaluting scientific
mumbo-jumbo, why can't you just accept the *fact* that your pal MeMe is
a very tacky and vulgar old bitch? (See other examples snipped by you.)
Doesn't a brainy & decent chap like you feel embarrassed joining
MeMe's two ignorant & vulgar mouthpieces, "Red Faggot" and "Mad Mongo"?
Or is your joining forces with the two most vulgar, disgusting and
despised pieces of subhuman garbage in AUE an example of an
intellectual's slumming?
> Given your frequent behavior in this group,
Modifier missing. What kind of "frequent behavior"? Let me guess:
"anti-Semitic," etc. The "frequent behavior" of, say, site-flogging &
ego-deprived vulgarian "Red Faggot Maggot Queen" and insanely raving,
rape-is-funny maniac Lindelllll "Mad Mongo" Jones that has been going on
for more than a year and a half *somehow* has never bothered you enough
to tell them off publicly.
Neither have your pal MeMe's endless vulgarities, obscenities,
lies, libelous accusations, evil malicious joy, street-whore tackiness,
and mindless chatter ever raised your wrath enough to denounce them
publicly. Doesn't this prove that you are just one of the hypocritical
double-standard Respected Regulars in this NG?
As long as you preach civility, you ought to wave your finger at
ALL -- *including* the three above-named arch-vulgarians -- who stray
from your code of ethics. By singling out me for your sermons (not that
I'll lose any sleep over it), your peculiar code of ethics is tainted by
partisanship, and your double-standard moralizing rings hollow.
> it is easy to imagine that these were considerably
> more polite than was warranted.
Try to imagine again, but this time with your mind and eyes
*open*. Your pal MeMe's politeness is legendary. Despite my vast
knowledge of invectives and terms of abuse, I can't think of a single
one that would be worse than the vulgarities and obscenities that tacky
sick old sow Kahn has vomited on me.
It's nice of Jews to stick together (your primary reason for
picking on me and cuddling up to MeMe), but if you can be intellectually
honest for just one second and remove your blinders, you must admit that
there *are* Jews & Jewesses who are nasty, evil and vile -- and thus a
disgrace for all Jews -- from whom decent fellow Jews distance
themselves. MeMe Kahn-Goodman is one of those.
Your turn.
emilys...@gmail.com
JoeyDee
(in article<29f332e3-5e0c-4234...@googlegroups.com>):
kindness because of some perception on your part that
their response to your "thank you" isn't sincere?
--
Joe W Dee
Remember: It is To Laugh
AmE; northeast US, Boston/New York
David Kleinecke
> I'm from America and I have the same issue. My parents raised me into thinking that's rude. Every time somebody opens the door for me I say "thank you" and the reply by saying "uh huh". It makes me frustrated. I feel like they didn't want to help you in the 1st place. I honestly just stopped saying thank you because I get so angry with that stupid response
GordonD
> I'm from America and I have the same issue. My parents raised me into thinking that's rude. Every time somebody opens the door for me I say "thank you" and the reply by saying "uh huh". It makes me frustrated. I feel like they didn't want to help you in the 1st place. I honestly just stopped saying thank you because I get so angry with that stupid response
>
--
Gordon Davie
Edinburgh, Scotland
Katy Jennison
for something.
--
Katy Jennison
musika
--
Ray
UK
Lewis
> On Fri, 21 Jul 2017 23:40:01 -0400, emilys...@gmail.com wrote
> (in article<29f332e3-5e0c-4234...@googlegroups.com>):
>> I'm from America and I have the same issue. My parents raised me into
>> thinking that's rude. Every time somebody opens the door for me I say "thank
>> you" and the reply by saying "uh huh". It makes me frustrated. I feel like
>> they didn't want to help you in the 1st place. I honestly just stopped saying
>> thank you because I get so angry with that stupid response
> You've sunk below their level by not acknowledging their
> kindness because of some perception on your part that
> their response to your "thank you" isn't sincere?
for me by others. The normal exchange is "Thanks." "No problem." but
more often it's just "Thanks" and no reply is required.
I find the idea of holding doors *for women* to be odd, but I do see
that far more women than men seem to expect it; far fewer women than men
will hold a door; and a significant percentage of women, though still a
minority, will not acknowledge that a door was held for them.
Someone, I think it was one of my aunts or perhaps my grandmother, said
that a lady was never expected to thank a man for doing the things he
was obligated to do. I suspect it was my grandmother, since she's the
one who said that you should never thank servants since you are paying
them.
I still find that belief very odd and have never followed it.
--
On the other hand, you have different fingers.
Mack A. Damia
means, "about nothing".
CDB
"Sure" too.
Most replies to thanks seem to be dismissive of the obligation
expressed. "De rien", "por nada", "no hay de que" "Bitte" (please
don't?), and maybe even "you're welcome": you are well come to it; it is
a good thing that you have what you wanted or needed, and no expression
of thanks is really due (they say politely). Not at all.
Jerry Friedman
> I'm from America and I have the same issue. My parents raised me into thinking that's rude. Every time somebody opens the door for me I say "thank you" and the reply by saying "uh huh". It makes me frustrated. I feel like they didn't want to help you in the 1st place. I honestly just stopped saying thank you because I get so angry with that stupid response
person who did it doesn't want to make a big deal out of it. I still
say "Thank you."
--
Jerry Friedman
RH Draney
Charles Bishop
thank you? I hear this mostly from people being interviewed. At the and
of the interview, the host thanks the guest for coming - "Thank you for
being on the show. . ." Few guests follow with "you're welcome" but
instead say "thank you."
I assume this is because at the end of the interview time is tight and
the guest wants to thank the host for inviting them onto the program and
wants to make sure that is heard. Still, a quick "you're welcome" and
then "thank you for having me on. . ." would be possible.
charles, alphonse and gaston
Charles Bishop
wrote:
--
charles
Robert Bannister
been caught years ago in the German "Danke schön - Bitte schön" (and
vice versa) endless loop. It is all a bit unnecessary.
--
Robert B. born England a long time ago;
Western Australia since 1972
Robert Bannister
> On 7/21/2017 11:40 PM, emilys...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>> I'm from America and I have the same issue. My parents raised me into
>> thinking that's rude. Every time somebody opens the door for me I say
>> "thank you" and the reply by saying "uh huh". It makes me frustrated.
>> I feel like they didn't want to help you in the 1st place. I honestly
>> just stopped saying thank you because I get so angry with that stupid
>> response
>
> It could be a cool way of saying "Don't mention it." I have heard
> "Sure" too.
>
> Most replies to thanks seem to be dismissive of the obligation
> expressed. "De rien", "por nada", "no hay de que" "Bitte" (please
> don't?),
used as response to "thank you" but is also almost compulsory when
offering something: bitte, prego, pozhalsta...
and maybe even "you're welcome": you are well come to it; it is
> a good thing that you have what you wanted or needed, and no expression
> of thanks is really due (they say politely). Not at all.
>
>
Peter Moylan
"Nothing" to me (in English) as a response to "Thank you".
My own tendency is to say nothing, and perhaps just smile. The exchange
has to end somewhere.
--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Peter Moylan
> On Fri, 21 Jul 2017 23:40:01 -0400, emilys...@gmail.com wrote
> (in article<29f332e3-5e0c-4234...@googlegroups.com>):
>
>> I'm from America and I have the same issue. My parents raised me into
>> thinking that's rude. Every time somebody opens the door for me I say "thank
>> you" and the reply by saying "uh huh". It makes me frustrated. I feel like
>> they didn't want to help you in the 1st place. I honestly just stopped saying
>> thank you because I get so angry with that stupid response
>
> You've sunk below their level by not acknowledging their
> kindness because of some perception on your part that
> their response to your "thank you" isn't sincere?
going to see your response.
Mack A. Damia
It's practically universal language now.
I have also said, "Sure", maybe even, "Certainly", on occasion.
It is merely an acknowledgement of gratitude.
Lewis
--
"Rosa sat, so Martin could walk. Martin walked, so Obama could run.
Obama ran, so our children can fly." (paraphrased from NPR)
Lewis
--
If I were you boys, I wouldn't talk or even think about women. 'T'ain't
good for your health.
Lewis
> On 23/7/17 4:36 am, CDB wrote:
>> On 7/21/2017 11:40 PM, emilys...@gmail.com wrote:
>>
>>> I'm from America and I have the same issue. My parents raised me into
>>> thinking that's rude. Every time somebody opens the door for me I say
>>> "thank you" and the reply by saying "uh huh". It makes me frustrated.
>>> I feel like they didn't want to help you in the 1st place. I honestly
>>> just stopped saying thank you because I get so angry with that stupid
>>> response
>>
>> It could be a cool way of saying "Don't mention it." I have heard
>> "Sure" too.
>>
>> Most replies to thanks seem to be dismissive of the obligation
>> expressed. "De rien", "por nada", "no hay de que" "Bitte" (please
>> don't?),
> In a number of European languages, the word for "please" is not only
> used as response to "thank you" but is also almost compulsory when
> offering something: bitte, prego, pozhalsta...
response to a request/query.
"mas cerveza?"
"Por favor" == you get more beer.
"Gracias" == you do not get more beer.
--
'You've got the loudest silences I ever did hear from anyone who wasn't
dead!' --Lords and Ladies
Mack A. Damia
You are acknowledging a person's existence and his/her "humanity".
Animals don't say, "Thank you" or "You're welcome". Of course, you
can teach a dog to bark, but it still doesn't understand the concept
of gratitude.
Acknowledging gratitude is showing that you do understand and that you
are a gentleman.
You are a gentleman, aren't you, Roger?
John Varela
person who is being waved through to speed up so the doorholder is
not delayed. If the doorholder were to say "You're welcome" he'd
most likely be saying it to the back of the head of the person
sweeping through the door. The exception would be for slow moving
people: the elderly or crippled.
If I hold a door and the other person fails to say "Thanks" I might
mutter "You're welcome" behind his departing back.
--
John Varela
John Varela
--
John Varela
John Varela
"thank you".
--
John Varela
Mack A. Damia
Sorry 'bout dat!
Richard Yates
David Kleinecke
bunch of funny monkeys. Dogs civilized us.
Mack A. Damia
could they possibly understand gratitude?
"Even though we have all heard of (and the authors have personal
experience with) pets adopted from a miserable stray existence into
the comfort of modern homes, it is possible to tell if their
greater-than-average appreciation (e.g. tail wagging, purring) of our
care and food has anything to do with gratitude. The simpler
alternative is that, after prolonged deprivation, there is a contrast
effect that lasts a lifetime, making these animals show
greater-than-average expressions of pleasure at receiving a full bowl
of food. In humans, no one would confuse pleasure with gratitude. On
the other hand, if the pleasure is expressed in a personal manner,
aimed specifically at the individual who delivers it, are not we
getting closer to gratitude?"
http://scienceblogs.com/thoughtfulanimal/2010/12/01/gratitude-uniquely-human-or-sh/
But you will never convince many, maybe most people that dogs do not
understand mortality or gratitude. Well, dogs dangerously chase after
cars without regard to their lives, and we as pet lovers WANT them to
express gratitude. We usually see what we want to, as well.
Richard Yates
"Call of the Wild".
Mack A. Damia
Known as "The Sniffing Scene"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZk0eYOI4tg
CDB
>>>> Animals don't say, "Thank you" or "You're welcome". Of course, you
>>>> can teach a dog to bark, but it still doesn't understand the concept
>>>> of gratitude.
>>> Dogs invented the concept of gratitude.
>> Dogs don't even understand the concept of their mortality, so how
>> could they possibly understand gratitude?
> You have obviously never seen "Old Yeller", "Lassie, Come Home" or
> "Call of the Wild".
seeing her rescuer again for the first time, weeks after her adoption by
someone else.
http://positivedoggie.com/i-am-finally-safe/
GordonD
>> On 22/07/2017 19:02, GordonD wrote:
>>> On 22/07/2017 04:40, emilys...@gmail.com wrote:
>>>> thinking that's rude. Every time somebody opens the door for me I say
>>>> "thank you" and the reply by saying "uh huh". It makes me frustrated.
>>>> I feel like they didn't want to help you in the 1st place. I honestly
>>>> just stopped saying thank you because I get so angry with that stupid
>>>> response
>>>>
>>>
>>
>> What's happened to "My pleasure"? That's my go-to if someone thanks
>> me for something.
>>
>
--
Gordon Davie
Edinburgh, Scotland
Mack A. Damia
gratitude?
The dog is comfortable and content. That does not translate into
gratitude. Dogs and other animals have no sense of passing time;
also, gratitude requires thought and a moral disposition. Animals do
not think abstractly or possess morality.
No doubt that animals possess remarkable abilities, but what you and
others are mistaking for gratitude is merely a sense of attachment,
pleasure, safety and content.
Animals can think, feel and reason? Just part of a new and selfish
paradigm for a new and selfish century.
RH Draney
entirely than what is being discussed...it's not "Uh huh instead of
Thank you" but "Uh huh in *response* to Thank you"...which leads me to
wonder if even thanks are truly necessary...now here's something on the
subject that I found verbatim in multiple copies all over the web, most
of them from various books:
Let me tell you an anecdote.
Among the Germans, Berlin is considered to be the very epitome of
Prussian brusqueness and efficiency, while Vienna is the essence of
Austrian charm and slipshoddery.
There is the tale of a Berliner visiting Vienna who was lost and in need
of directions.
What would such a Berliner do? He grabbed at the lapel of the first
passing Viennese and barked out, 'The Post Office. Where is it?'
The startled Viennese carefully detached the other's fist, smoothed his
lapel and said in a gentle manner, 'Sir, would it not have been more
delicate of you to have approached me politely and to have said. "Sir,
if you have a moment and happen to know, could you direct me to the Post
Office?"'
The Berliner stared in astonishment for a moment, then growled, 'I would
rather be lost!' and stomped away.
That very same Viennese was visiting Berlin too that year and it turned
out that now it was he who had to search for the Post Office.
Approaching a Berliner he said politely, 'Sir, if you have a moment and
happen to know, could you please direct me to the Post Office?'
With machine-like rapidity the Berliner replied, 'About face, two blocks
forward, sharp turn right, one block forward, cross a street, half turn
on the right, walk left over railroad tracks, pass news-stand into Post
Office lobby.'
The Viennese, more bewildered than enlightened, nevertheless murmured,
'A thousand thanks, kind sir,' whereupon the Berliner snatched furiously
at the other's lapel and shouted, 'Never mind the thanks, repeat the
instructions!'
....r
Lewis
humans will jump out of a perfectly good airplane, for example.
I think animals in general understand mortality on at least some
level. The impulse to self-preservation is very deep, which doesn't mean
it can't be suppressed or ignored.
I also think dogs, at least, understand others mortality. Dogs have
famously gone to great extremes to rescue humans in peril.
As for gratitude, that's a difficult thing to nail down. What is it,
exactly, and how does it manifest?
--
Some people are like a slinky: Totally useless, but you
can't help but smile when you push them down the stairs
Mack A. Damia
Lewis
their handlers have to stage fake-rescues or the dogs get so depressed
they will no longer try to sniff out survivors.
> http://positivedoggie.com/i-am-finally-safe/
Nice picture.
--
Happy Jack wasn't tall, but he was a man
Peter T. Daniels
Richard Yates
artificially selected to an extraordinary degree over thousands of
years. We have minutely shaped their behavior to the point that they
act in ways consistent with our projections of human emotions. We have
created them in our own image.
If it acts like a duck and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck.
But if it acts like person and has four legs, it probably is a dog.
We run into only very rare counterexamples to our model of their
mental processes as embodying empathy and gratitude. Exactly the same
can be said of our models of other humans' mental processes, although
the counterexamples are more numerous.
Charles Bishop
occam
> On 7/22/2017 12:55 PM, musika wrote:
>>> On 22/07/2017 19:02, GordonD wrote:
>>>> On 22/07/2017 04:40, emilys...@gmail.com wrote:
>>>>> I'm from America and I have the same issue. My parents raised me into
>>>>> thinking that's rude. Every time somebody opens the door for me I say
>>>>> "thank you" and the reply by saying "uh huh". It makes me frustrated.
>>>>> I feel like they didn't want to help you in the 1st place. I honestly
>>>>> just stopped saying thank you because I get so angry with that stupid
>>>>> response
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The common response to "Thank you" these days seems to be "No problem!"
>>>
>>> What's happened to "My pleasure"? That's my go-to if someone thanks
>>> me for something.
>>>
>
How 'bout "Think nothing of it"? Literally, it is not possible. However
it not rude.
bebe...@aol.com
>
> > I'm from America and I have the same issue. My parents raised me into
> > thinking that's rude. Every time somebody opens the door for me I say
> > "thank you" and the reply by saying "uh huh". It makes me frustrated.
> > I feel like they didn't want to help you in the 1st place. I honestly
> > just stopped saying thank you because I get so angry with that stupid
> > response
>
> "Sure" too.
>
> Most replies to thanks seem to be dismissive of the obligation
> expressed.
affirmation, which could imply something along the line of "Yes,
you can thank me!" (whereas "Uh-uh" would indeed express negation
and could mean "Don't mention it")?
"De rien", "por nada", "no hay de que" "Bitte" (please
> a good thing that you have what you wanted or needed, and no expression
> of thanks is really due (they say politely). Not at all.
Athel Cornish-Bowden
in Canada. We went to see Divorce Italian Style and I ate my first
Mexican food. Over dinner we fell to discussing how peculiar Americans
were (as British people are wont to do when meeting one another on
American soil), and she said that she found "You're welcome" to be the
most irritating mannerism she had encountered. (In those far-off days
British people said nothing as a response to "Thank you".)
--
athel
CDB
>>> Richard Yates wrote:
>>>> Mack A. Damia <drstee...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>>> Richard Yates <ric...@yatesguitar.com> wrote:
>>>>>> Mack A. Damia <drstee...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>> [Ps and Qs]
>>>>>>> Animals don't say, "Thank you" or "You're welcome". Of
>>>>>>> course, you can teach a dog to bark, but it still doesn't
>>>>>>> understand the concept of gratitude.
>>>>>> Dogs invented the concept of gratitude.
>>>>> Dogs don't even understand the concept of their mortality, so
>>>>> how could they possibly understand gratitude?
when young.
>>>> You have obviously never seen "Old Yeller", "Lassie, Come Home"
>>>> or "Call of the Wild".
>>> The story as I heard it is that the linked picture is of a
>>> rescued dog seeing her rescuer again for the first time, weeks
>>> after her adoption by someone else.
>>> http://positivedoggie.com/i-am-finally-safe/
>> So you and the author of the blog just assume that the dog is
>> feeling gratitude?
elsewhere. At the time, the posters were not trying to prove a point
about dogs. That dog had been safe and content with her adopter for
weeks; it was her rescuer, the one who had taken her out of a terrible
situation, that she was greeting. I have seen the same reaction in
other dogs.
That is the basis of my assumption in this particular case.
>> The dog is comfortable and content. That does not translate into
>> gratitude. Dogs and other animals have no sense of passing time;
>> also, gratitude requires thought and a moral disposition. Animals
>> do not think abstractly or possess morality.
personal experience contradicts some of them. Humans have to work
harder than dogs for mutual understanding, since we lack their talent
for it.
Do you have a dog? Have you ever had one that you loved and paid
attention to? You have to observe them carefully over a long while, to
understand how their minds work.
>> No doubt that animals possess remarkable abilities, but what you
>> and others are mistaking for gratitude is merely a sense of
>> attachment, pleasure, safety and content.
reciprocal obligation that you find lacking? Dogs understand hierarchy
very well, and recognise their obligations under that system.
>> Animals can think, feel and reason? Just part of a new and
>> selfish paradigm for a new and selfish century.
the same ways we do. Their forebrains are smaller than ours, and their
reasoning ability is mostly limited to post-hoc-ergo-propter-hoc.
I'm eager to hear you explain how that belief demonstrates my selfishness.
> It is more complicated than that. Dogs as a species have been
> artificially selected to an extraordinary degree over thousands of
> years. We have minutely shaped their behavior to the point that they
> act in ways consistent with our projections of human emotions. We
> have created them in our own image.
wild dogs who could tolerate nearness to our species did
comparatively better than those who couldn't, on the meat scraps
available in our vicinity.
Humans then bred them selectively (thousands of years later) for useful
talents and proclivities, aided by the extraordinary mutability of the
dog genome; but mostly not for the mutual affection that has brought
dogs to relative prosperity in our culture. The oxytocin that both dog
and human generate when looking into each other's eyes is something that
we both evolved because it helps to keep puppies and children from an
early death, and that dogs evolved to feel for us because it helped to
preserve them too.
> If it acts like a duck and quacks like a duck, it probably is a
> duck. But if it acts like person and has four legs, it probably is a
> dog.
domestication that humans have learned to act like dogs to some extent.
I know that, when I walked my dogs, if the dog looked in some direction
I looked there too, reflexively.
"The closest approximation to human morality that can be found in nature
is that of the gray wolf, Canis lupus. Wolves are among the most
gregarious and cooperative of animals on the planet,[76][77] and their
ability to cooperate in well-coordinated drives to hunt prey, carry
items too heavy for an individual, provisioning not only their own young
but also the other pack members, babysitting etc. are rivaled only by
that of human societies. Similar forms of cooperation are observed in
two closely related canids, the African wild dog and the Asian dhole,
therefore it is reasonable to assume that canid sociality and
cooperation are old traits that in terms of evolution predate human
sociality and cooperation. Today's wolves may even be less social than
their ancestors, as they have lost access to big herds of ungulates and
now tend more toward a lifestyle similar to coyotes, jackals, and even
foxes.[76] Social sharing within families may be a trait that early
humans learned from wolves,[76][132] and with wolves digging dens long
before humans constructed huts it is not clear who domesticated whom."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_domestic_dog#Behavioral_evidence
CDB
> CDB a écrit :
>>> I'm from America and I have the same issue. My parents raised me into
>>> thinking that's rude. Every time somebody opens the door for me I say
>>> "thank you" and the reply by saying "uh huh". It makes me frustrated.
>>> I feel like they didn't want to help you in the 1st place. I honestly
>>> just stopped saying thank you because I get so angry with that stupid
>>> response
>> It could be a cool way of saying "Don't mention it." I have heard
>> "Sure" too.
>> Most replies to thanks seem to be dismissive of the obligation
>> expressed.
> That's what I think too, but doesn't "Uh-huh" normally express
> affirmation, which could imply something along the line of "Yes,
> you can thank me!" (whereas "Uh-uh" would indeed express negation
> and could mean "Don't mention it")?
of course". I didn't mean to promote its use.
Tony Cooper
most irritating mannerism she could find about us is our habit of
saying "You're welcome".
I would think that she could make a six page laundry list of "most
irritating mannerisms" in one weekend in NYC.
On the subject of door-holding, I usually hold the door if someone is
exiting or entering just behind me if that person is within, say, 10
feet of the door. (Any further away, and they're on their own) I'd
rather they *didn't* say "Thank you". If they do, there's an
expectation on their part for me to say something like "You're
welcome" and I'd really rather not. Holding the door is not, to me, a
conversational opening. Next thing you know, they'll be telling me to
"Have a nice day", or - worse - "Have a blessed day".
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
Robert Bannister
--
Robert B. born England a long time ago;
Western Australia since 1972
Robert Bannister
and humans is, at basis, self-serving. If I lick your hand, wag my tail,
purr or say thank you, then I am encouraging you to perform the same act
again. We almost certainly don't think this through every time we thank
somebody, but it's this oiling the workings of society that is at the
bottom of all ethics. So we teach our children to do it. Some parents
quite clearly do not.
Robert Bannister
Robert Bannister
> In message <eti7u2...@mid.individual.net> Robert Bannister <robertb...@iprimus.com.au> wrote:
>> On 23/7/17 4:36 am, CDB wrote:
>>>
>>>> I'm from America and I have the same issue. My parents raised me into
>>>> thinking that's rude. Every time somebody opens the door for me I say
>>>> "thank you" and the reply by saying "uh huh". It makes me frustrated.
>>>> I feel like they didn't want to help you in the 1st place. I honestly
>>>> just stopped saying thank you because I get so angry with that stupid
>>>> response
>>>
>>> "Sure" too.
>>>
>>> Most replies to thanks seem to be dismissive of the obligation
>>> don't?),
>
>> In a number of European languages, the word for "please" is not only
>> used as response to "thank you" but is also almost compulsory when
>> offering something: bitte, prego, pozhalsta...
>
> In Spanish "please" can be used to mean yes and "thanks" to mean no, in
> response to a request/query.
>
> "mas cerveza?"
>
> "Por favor" == you get more beer.
> "Gracias" == you do not get more beer.
>
Similar if you reply with a plain "Danke" in German, although tone of
voice comes into it as well.
Mack A. Damia
vice unit.
Aside from that, a dog recognizes love and care and will express
pleasure at the things it enjoys, but that's not gratitude. If you
give it a brand new soft cushion to sleep on, it will sniff around it
first and may not even use it for a while. It may not even express
pleasure, but it will, as you point out, especially if we fuss over
it.
Peter T. Daniels
> I would think that she could make a six page laundry list of "most
> irritating mannerisms" in one weekend in NYC.
Largely devoted to manifestations of the worship of guns.
occam
> I'm from America and I have the same issue. My parents raised me into thinking that's rude. Every time somebody opens the door for me I say "thank you" and the reply by saying "uh huh". It makes me frustrated. I feel like they didn't want to help you in the 1st place. I honestly just stopped saying thank you because I get so angry with that stupid response
>
elect to have an Elvis impersonator as a master of ceremonies. In which
case the most appropriate response to the question "do you take this
woman to be your lawful wedded wife?" apparently is "Uh huh huh!"
![Peter Duncanson [BrE]'s profile photo](http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a-/ALV-UjU1GGYFBCZgBCNB-pRgkosMu-ej0qpnECw3jc8uGYOTiF8a=s40-c)
Peter Duncanson [BrE]
<g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:
>In message <0001HW.1F236D2200...@news.eternal-september.org> JoeyDee <j...@outlook.com> wrote:
>> On Fri, 21 Jul 2017 23:40:01 -0400, emilys...@gmail.com wrote
>> (in article<29f332e3-5e0c-4234...@googlegroups.com>):
>
>>> thinking that's rude. Every time somebody opens the door for me I say "thank
>>> you" and the reply by saying "uh huh". It makes me frustrated. I feel like
>>> they didn't want to help you in the 1st place. I honestly just stopped saying
>>> thank you because I get so angry with that stupid response
>
>> kindness because of some perception on your part that
>> their response to your "thank you" isn't sincere?
>
>Seems odd to me. I often hold doors for people and often have doors held
>for me by others. The normal exchange is "Thanks." "No problem." but
>more often it's just "Thanks" and no reply is required.
>
>I find the idea of holding doors *for women* to be odd, but I do see
>that far more women than men seem to expect it; far fewer women than men
>will hold a door; and a significant percentage of women, though still a
>minority, will not acknowledge that a door was held for them.
female writer. She had done an experiment by dressing as a man
(convincingly) and going about in public in places where she was
unlikely to be recognised. She was startled at the way men treated her
as a "man" compared with when she was obviously a woman. Doors were not
held open, a difference that she had expected, but there were many other
minor helpful acts that she was used to as a woman that she didn't
receive when seen as a man. She hadn't previously noticed those minor
differences in behaviour.
She made a generalisation about these differences along the lines of:
Men are helpful to women but men are expected to be self-reliant.
It was a long time ago, perhaps the 1970s, and I can't remember any
more.
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)
David Kleinecke
Mack A. Damia
Honeymoon at the Heartbreak Hotel.
snide...@gmail.com
/dps
snide...@gmail.com
> On the subject of door-holding, I usually hold the door if someone is
> exiting or entering just behind me if that person is within, say, 10
> feet of the door. (Any further away, and they're on their own) I'd
> rather they *didn't* say "Thank you". If they do, there's an
> expectation on their part for me to say something like "You're
> welcome" and I'd really rather not. Holding the door is not, to me, a
> conversational opening.
The exception is likely to be in an elevator
(where holding the door may involve pressing a button),
and then the discussion is usually about how the elevator is performing
(some are quite entertaining; at the medical offices,
the elevator seems to think you want the grand tour;
at the work place, the elevator sometimes is express (straight to the 4th!)
and sometimes is the all-stops local.
Good for one-or-two oneliners apiece.
> Next thing you know, they'll be telling me to
> "Have a nice day", or - worse - "Have a blessed day".
I can tolerate hearing "have a blessed day"
much easier than being invisible by the other person's choice.
/dps
David Kleinecke
blessed day.
RH Draney
Mack A. Damia
wrote:
Charles Bishop
David Kleinecke
a blessed day hearing that except as a mumble.
GordonD
me, namely "It's the least I could do!" The person seems to be saying,
"Well, I could have done more for you but I didn't want to; this is the
absolute minimum I could get away with!"
--
Gordon Davie
Edinburgh, Scotland
Peter Moylan
--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW, Australia
CDB
>>>> I'm from America and I have the same issue. My parents raised
>>>> me into thinking that's rude. Every time somebody opens the
>>>> door for me I say "thank you" and the reply by saying "uh huh".
>>>> It makes me frustrated. I feel like they didn't want to help
>>>> you in the 1st place. I honestly just stopped saying thank you
>>>> because I get so angry with that stupid response
>>> It could be a cool way of saying "Don't mention it." I have
>>> heard "Sure" too.
>>> Most replies to thanks seem to be dismissive of the obligation
>>> expressed.
>> That's what I think too, but doesn't "Uh-huh" normally express
>> affirmation, which could imply something along the line of "Yes,
>> you can thank me!" (whereas "Uh-uh" would indeed express negation
>> and could mean "Don't mention it")?
>> "De rien", "por nada", "no hay de que" "Bitte" (please
>>> don't?), and maybe even "you're welcome": you are well come to
>>> it; it is a good thing that you have what you wanted or needed,
>>> and no expression of thanks is really due (they say politely).
>>> Not at all.
> Just thought of another response to "Thank you" which always
> irritates me, namely "It's the least I could do!" The person seems to
> be saying, "Well, I could have done more for you but I didn't want
> to; this is the absolute minimum I could get away with!"
HTH HAND
Lewis
--
Adolescence is the period between childhood and adultery