NT phrases or questions that drive you nuts!

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"Ollie, Ollie Oxen-free" harkens back to the Golden Age of Alliteration in English literature and language.

It was probably an expression used in medieval day. It's possible that an ox had set itself free from a yoke, and that some guy named Ollie was warned about this.

It's actually "All ye! All ye! In come free."

Perfectly logical announcement to your playmates that the game is over and that they wont get penalized for coming out of hiding, but said in Elizabethan English. Nothing to do with "oxen".

Childrens' games are all centuries old, and retain a certain amount of archaic verbiage.

This thread has really lifted my bad mood because I relate to all of these and I find a lot of them quite funny to read!

'well that's just something you will have to get over'

'you need to look at the bigger picture'

'what makes you so special'

'you need to go with the flow' my skin crawls when people say that to me.

'you're very highly strung' You're very highly annoying. Go away please.

Also when someone asks you a question and you give them an answer and they almost get mad at you for giving an exact answer. They seem to think that you are making fun of them or being sarcastic.

Yeah ... I have Christian relatives who say this and it always made no sense to me. Maybe it's an autistic-taking-things-too-literally type situation, but if this was interpreted literally and true, there would be no such thing as suicide.


No pun intended???

I just ran into the "have a nice day" thing again at a cafe. I want that on a tshirt. I want someone to have the balls to say "have a nice day" to someone wearing a tshirt that says HAVE A NICE DAY.

I ain't lying....I do hope you have a nice day!

Sorry, this isn't actually something that annoys me as such, but it's something I don't know how to answer and causes me to get confused and pedantic and the other person is just looking at me going ''okaaaaay...."
"Where are you from?" - So are you supposed to say where you live now? Or are you supposed to say where you lived at the time you were born? Or are you supposed to say where you grew up?

Yep....very ambiguous question!

Most of the time, I believe people want to know where you live NOW.

As in many things, it depends on the specific context.

When people write or say "hashtag (insert word)"

[friendly note of moderation]

Please remember that personal attacks are not allowed on WP.

Especially when the personal attack was totally, totally unprovoked.

The answer to the question can be any of the above, or all of the above. Its context dependent.

Doesn't hurt to ask for clarification. And(more important) it doesn't hurt to "read between the lines" to get at what the person is really asking you.

Also: for most of history, for most people (and for many folks still, like myself for example) the answer to all three questions: where were you born? Where did you grow up? , and "where do you live now?" are all the same general answer (ie within the same one greater urban area- in my case the Washington DC area). Not everyone (even our mobile times) have differing answers for each question.

By "reading between the lines" I mean that you can sometimes tell why the person asked the question- so give them the relevant answer. Like if you're traveling cross country and find yourself in a room full of folks who speak in Texas twang, and you don't speak that way (so you stand out) then the question is probably really "tell us why you speak in a funny dialect". So you tell them "I am from Chicago", or "I was born in Houston, BUT I grew up in Chicago so I lost my Texas dialect". Like that.

^^^Oh my god yes.

People asking how you are (I know it's been said, but still). The convention is that neither party really cares, so you both just say 'I'm fine', when really I spend half the time feeling like my brain is on fire, and the other half swimming through a kind of depressive haze. But no, I'm fine.

People telling me I look nervous/scared. I guess maybe I do, since multiple people have said it, but damned if it isn't annoying. It's always women that say it, weirdly. Other women treat me really...gently? I guess? Like they can tell there's something wrong with me and want to look after me. I quite like that though, generally, because I don't have anybody who treats me like that in my personal life, and sometimes you need a bit of mothering lol .

Also, the knowing 'You'll see...' when relating to my not wanting a boyfriend, girlfriend, or baby.

It is the most patronising and offensive thing, and has been said to me by strangers (which I can begrudgingly understand) and also by people as close to me as my own mother (which I cannot understand or forgive). Does it never occur to people that I might know myself better than they do? Or that my own decisions on my personal life should be respected? Argh ! !

I've gotten this one a lot when I mention that I don't want children. People say that they've seen others change their minds about it. Well, I feel very strongly about it, so a lot would have to change in my life for that sentiment to change.

Oh yes - if I am in a different country or the person is from a different country, I will say the country I live.
But I mean if you are talking to someone in work, college, or most other interactions.
I just cant tell what it is that they want me to say. I've always lived in the same country, but I've moved a bit in my life.
I usually end up saying all 3! :/

Someone else a few posts ago said that it is usually where you live now.
I will just say that from now on.
Thank you. I do realise I sound a bit thick not knowing this at 31 years old!! I know now though, so honestly, thank you to those who answered me.

Where was there a personal attack? I often cannot interpret this kind of thing.