Does this annoy anyone else? I know there are many of us that make mistakes regarding grammar etc. And I know there are regional differences within a language. But this one is really annoying me right now. I mean, have you noticed the number of people on the television that say 'good' instead of saying 'well'. Or the number of educated people that do it?
Or is this one of those differences between the two Englishes that says 'good' can be used in the position of 'well' and it is considered grammatically correct?
Does this one annoy any of you? Or do you just not notice? Have you picked up this habit yourself?
Well i say good a lot
but its good that i say well acasionally
Ben, don't let anybody tell you different, you done real good, bringing this up for our attention lol
On TV, they cater to the lowest common denominator, they don't want to appear snobbish.
The one that gets to me is, "We do it right."
I got really annoyed when they made James Earl Jones switch from saying 'Atlantic" to "Atlannic", before they became Verizon.
Always gets me in stores when they ask you how are you, Mrs Servalan always say "I'm good" which I still can't say because, as pointed out above, it doesn't make any sense. I usually reply with an "I'm awright how are you"
The strange use of language here constantly amuses me, but i try not to point it out anymore, I guess its kind of rude ,so i just let people get on with it.
Although I still deny being australian when asked.
The use of "good" instead of "well" is annoying to me in the context of "you did good" as opposed to "you did well", but not in the context of "I'm good" rather than "I'm well". Does that make sense? No, I thought not. mrgreen
When I doubt my knowledge of acceptable American English, I ask hubby or a teacher, just to make sure.
It bugs me when people say that they like something "real well". I ususally reply the how are you question by saying "fine thanks, how are you?" Of course I almost never get a response.
The use of "good" instead of "well" is annoying to me in the context of "you did good" as opposed to "you did well", but not in the context of "I'm good" rather than "I'm well". Does that make sense? No, I thought not. :mrgreen:
When I doubt my knowledge of acceptable American English, I ask hubby or a teacher, just to make sure.
I'm the same, KG in both finding the 'you did good' more annoying and asking for confirmation on american English. the only problem on the latter is as I pointed out before - I hear educated people making these mistakes regularly, including teachers :roll: So I get one of two replies, 'I don't know, never thought about it', or the technically correct answer but then hear them still say the wrong one! :lol:
I'm American, and the phrase "you did good" does bother me, unless it is uttered by someone who shouldn't be expected to speak correctly. Like football coaches, drill sargeants, news anchors, schoolteachers and the like.
Oh, and anyone who says "you DONE good" or it's redheaded counsin "you done REAL good" is immediately off the hook, because that is obviously just a quaint regionalism uttered mainly by backwoodsmen, trappers, mountain men and those sorts of unpretentious characters. Salt of the earth folks are permitted to use such phrases, as it only lends greater credibility to their pithy, down-to-earth wisdom. It's not as if they are saying it in a shallow attempt to be trendy, or to affect football coachesque airs.
I'm so accustomed to the phrase "I'm good" in response to the question "how are you?" that it doesn't bother me, and I don't waste any emotional energy trying to rid the world of its degrading influence. However, I was taught to use the phrase "I'm fine, thank you" and don't think I would ever be comfortable using the other. And I would probably feel driven to "correct" our children if I heard them using "I'm good", unless of course they were describing themselves as morally good or something.
I like to reserve the word "good" as the approving rejoiner when the other person says that they are fine. As in
"Oh, hello Mrs. Dinwiddy! How are you today?"
"Well, hello dear! I'm fine, thank you, can't complain."
"Well that's good! Glad to hear it."
Recently, I have noticed an inexplicable rise in the civilian use of the phrase "I'm good" as heard in military circles. In military jargon, "I'm good" is shorthand for "I have all that is required, thank you" or "I have completed my task in good form, or as instructed" or "all present and correct, sir". Military types, and their imitators, will understandably also extend the use of "I'm good" to apply to social situations. Such as
"Hey, Crenshaw! How are you?"
"I'm good (ie present and correct)"
"Would you care for a drink, sir?"
"No, I'm good (ie I have all that is required, thank you)"
"Joe, are you too close to that mailbox?!"
"I'm good! (ie I am completing my task in good form, and will not run over the mailbox)"
What I found puzzling was the British use of the word "good" as applied to small children. After giving birth to our first child in Wales, I was initially taken aback when people would come up and ask me, "Oh, she's lovely! Is she good?"
I thought in amazement "No, she's an evil little hellion. What do you think?! She's 3 weeks old, for crying out loud! How could she be anything but sweet, innocent and good?"
After a while, I began to realize that people weren't trying to get me to make a moral judgement as to the quality of the character of my own child, but were in fact wondering if she slept through the night. I guess sleeping through the night is what constitutes a "good" child in the minds of most British OAPs.
I regret to say I hadn't noticed this, Possibly because of my time in South America where the word good is used to indicate, " yes I understand, I'm following what you say". Before answering people say good, as in, I have understood, now I will answer. You have a conversation there and the listener constantly says bueno, so i guess this one just slipped right by me.
I regret to say I hadn't noticed this, Possibly because of my time in South America where the word good is used to indicate, " yes I understand, I'm following what you say". Before answering people say good, as in, I have understood, now I will answer. You have a conversation there and the listener constantly says bueno, so i guess this one just slipped right by me.
Like the American "right", right? Riiiiight! I had a workmate years ago who used a sort of American style "bueno", and it sounded alot like "Oh, I hear ya, man!"
Totally off topic, but two conversational habits that really stress me out are the deliberate rhetorical questions, such as the Southern habit of saying "ya hear?" after making a statement, and the British "isn't it?". As in, "well, that's just rubbish, isn't it?"
The first case becomes like an incessant nagging after awhile, as if the speaker is demanding constant reassurance that I am actually listening to what they're saying.
And I find the second case quite confrontational, because the speaker insists that I agree with them, don't they?. So instead of being permitted to listen passively and let the old geezer on the bus spout off on whatever opinions he pleases, I feel compelled to set the record straight when assumptions are being made about my opinions, don't I? My problem is that I take everything too literally, isn't it?
Bueno.
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Totally off topic, but two conversational habits that really stress me out are the deliberate rhetorical questions, such as the Southern habit of saying "ya hear?" after making a statement, and the British "isn't it?". As in, "well, that's just rubbish, isn't it?"
The first case becomes like an incessant nagging after awhile, as if the speaker is demanding constant reassurance that I am actually listening to what they're saying.
And I find the second case quite confrontational, because the speaker insists that I agree with them, don't they?. So instead of being permitted to listen passively and let the old geezer on the bus spout off on whatever opinions he pleases, I feel compelled to set the record straight when assumptions are being made about my opinions, don't I? My problem is that I take everything too literally, isn't it?
Bueno.
I hear you. There is also, "don't you think?" added to the end of a statement. I don't think you are being too literal, it always bothered me. I was bothered by the negative also. If you disagree, your answer has to be the counter intuitive, "Yes", as in "Yes, it is not so". If you answer "No" you are confirming the opinion.
Many of these oddities are the result of contractions. I suspect that in an earlier and more flowery time, the answer to "How are you?" might well have been, "I am in good countenance", or "I am in fine fettle".
SO what about the response I was taught to "How are you?" That would be "I'm very well, thank you". Is that well as in good?
Around here, if you have eerything you require, it" "I'm all set". So....
"Would you like some coffee?"
"No, I'm all set."
"Do you want fries with that?"
"No, I'm all set."
"Are you cold?"
"No, I'm all set."
"Do you need any help?"
"No, I'm all set."
etc etc.
Around here, if you have eerything you require, it" "I'm all set". So....
Our local eqivalent is "I'm good". I think we used to use "all set" in the UK. It's so hard to remember which phrases came from where these days.
And you can also say "You're good" to indicate that the other person is "good to go" -you don't require anything more from them, or their way is clear (for example if they were manouvering and you were guiding them out of somewhere)
I love colloquialisms -it doesn't bother me at all if they don't make grammatical sense. Until people start using them in formal written communication such as school essays. :evil: :lol:
I must admit I use "bollox" much more frequently than either of those words.
Come to think of it, people here use "you're all set" when you have completed payment for something in a shop and are now free to leave. But that seems to be the only occassion. Sounds daft, I feel like a bowl of jelly or something.