Amused by NT conversation I overheard.

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So I was at the shop buying groceries the two women in front of me in the queue are nattering.

NT1 "Oh I saw Amy the other day"
NT2 "Huh she is with her boyfriend all the time now"
NT1 "Noooo I didn't mean I didn't talk to her or anything but I did see her going past"

I would never have guessed that saw could mean talked to in a hundred years!

Gah! I feel you. Secondary word meanings have ALWAYS messed with my head

The only thing I notice about that last sentence is that it has a poor structure.

Implies that NT1 did talk to her.

Implies that NT1 didn't talk to her.

Argh! What does it mean?!

Some people will say "I saw Amy" to mean "I met up with Amy" ie. arranged to meet with her so they could talk or see a film or something
Sorry my explanation is a bit weird, I can't find good specific words for it.

I talk like that often. It's a common expression, just part of the language.

"I saw Amy the other day" means exactly what it means to me. If you see someone in the store, you saw them, if you see them anywhere you saw them. Doesn't matter if you didn't say hi to them or chatted with them. Sometimes it can mean they visited. That would be if someone said "I went over and saw Amy." But this "I went to the store and saw I Amy" means she happened to be there also when the person was there.

I know what that means but I usually say "I saw suchabody" and mean I saw them with my eyes.

Yup, same here.

Why use a word when you mean another?

Yup, same here.

Why use a word when you mean another?

Yup, same here.

Why use a word when you mean another?

Wow that's an unusual name.

I know thats because it's not a name

I would think by saying she saw her could mean anything.

I THINK the OP meant

Noooo I didn't mean....(In other words, "I didn't mean that.")
I didn't talk to her or anything.



Still, I lot of people DO speak as you imferred from that. Maybe it is the spanish influence. The spanish use double negatives for emphasis.

Note how the conversation is focussed on the topic of female relationships.


If I was with relatives in a shop we'd be talking about the products (objects) in the shop:

"Which is better value?"

"We need this for the bathroom."

"Look there's a..."

"We've run out of..."

"That's on special offer."

"What's next on the list?"

"We need this for this task."


Some of the social banter we have to engage in the checkout does sound very forced. Or if someone says hello, it's like we have to switch mode. We never gossip unless we absolutely have to or we're prompted by someone else.

I'm the worst. I hardly gossip at all. I just lock up or say a few very basic and neutral things.

I talk like that and it's non-autistic people that misunderstand me because they think literally.

So funny.