Why is it that people greet each other with "Alright" but don't actually answer the question? For example I walk into the office and see J, here's our conversation:Xander
J: Alright
X: Alright
[End]
Please help me guru it is a conundrum that needs solving.
I envy the cordial greeting you enjoy! Most greetings sent my way begin, "What the," and end, "do you think you're doing?" Prophets are always despised in their own house, possibly because they're always meditating when it comes time to wash up.
This 'Alright' greeting is not as strange as you may think. As a country, we previously greeted each other by saying 'A hoy hoy!' After that, we tried asking 'How do you do?', but, as the appropriate answer was 'How do you do?', it formed a vicious greeting-cycle which trapped hundreds of innocent people for years. 'How do you do?' was finally scrapped in the early 1990' and 'Alright' took it's place. It has worked well for two reasons.
Firstly, being British, we despise the American trait of 'unnecessary talking', as exploited during any Oscar speech. For this reason, 'Alright' is both a question (Alright?) and an answer (Alright!), saving the effort of 'Are you' and 'Yes I'm' . With the added benefit that it needed to be said just once each, 'Alright?' allowed us to shorten conversations by several seconds, and go back to ignoring the other person much quicker than previously.
Secondly, when we ask 'Alright?', the responder understands that we don't actually want to know. 'Alright' is not supposed to be answered, or at least not answered honestly. It is the equivalent of 'Hello' and as such saves us from having to actually talk to people. It would be extremely awkward for any Brit if, on asking 'Alright?', they got the reply, "No! I can't make this months mortgage payment , my house is being repossessed, my wife is having an affair with the Milkman and the Window Cleaner, my back is killing me, I'm going blind, there's a rash around my third nipple, I'm chronically impotent, and my hamster died yesterday. Alright?"
In short, without 'Alright?' we'd spend so much time counselling each other that we'd never actually get any work done, causing the pound to weaken and the economy to collapse; before long there would be even more repossessions to moan about, and the vicious greeting-cycle would begin all over again. And one only need look at America's economy to see exactly where that would get us. Unnecessary talking costs lives. Alright?
Hope this Helps.
10 Comments:
Well, alright then, that certainly explains a lot!
Oh, and your guru-ness, you have been tagged. Just because you're sitting at the top of a pole doesn't mean you're not susceptible to being tagged - it just takes longer to reach you!
Alright?
I had no idea that 'Alright' was the latest greeting in Britain. I thought it was "Your mother!", which had replaced the more formal "Ho! Seize these men!" of the Victorian era.
great to see you here with the feeelance advice?? what advice can you give me, i would like to persue freelance journalism???
well, alrighty then!
i should ask you the origins of the american male usage of "dawg".
wassup dawg, you're my dawg, yeah, dawg...
HA! All right, then.
Linda - You tagged me? I wasn't even aware we were playing chase.
Mr Bananas - 'Your Mother' is quite liked in the council estates from what I hear.
സപ്ന അനു ബി. ജോര്ജ്ജ് - To begin, try actually reading my blog. A good journalist gets his facts straight.
Ally Go on then - ask me!
Angelika - All right to you to..
Hmm if only we could harness the sullenness of the commuter then the UK economy would dwarf the rest...
jams - Well yes, but we'd too busy listening to overloud music to properly concentrate.
Well at least they haven't shortened it even more to the extremely annoying "Aight" that some people are using over here.
Grimm - Actually the most common greeting is a short sharp nod in the greetees directon. I belive 'Aight' is merely a description of the sound this make if the head was on a spring.
Post a Comment