Mr. Wintergreen (about Bruce)
- AnnieCamaro
- Four-Footer
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Mr. Wintergreen (about Bruce)
Mr. Winter, unless Bruce is already 13 or over, and if he wants to register on this board, tell him to fib about his age to get in.
I'm just saying....
I'm just saying....
- TheConfessor
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Re: Mr. Wintergreen (about Bruce)
Can someone tell me what "I'm just saying...." means? It seems to have entered the language in recent years as a crutch for something, but I'm not sure what. Is there some implied object or clause that is unspoken but universally understood. How would any statement that is followed by "I'm just saying..." be changed in meaning if that expression were not there?AnnieCamaro wrote:I'm just saying....
- MarleysGh0st
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Re: Mr. Wintergreen (about Bruce)
Good question, Confessor! The phrase seems to be used as a postscript in the way "Nota Bene" might be used to draw attention to an implication in the preceding paragraph. At the same time "I'm just saying..." has a marvelous, noncommital air to it. In this example, Annie is not telling Bruce to lie about his age! Wink, wink, nod, nod.TheConfessor wrote: Can someone tell me what "I'm just saying...." means? It seems to have entered the language in recent years as a crutch for something, but I'm not sure what. Is there some implied object or clause that is unspoken but universally understood. How would any statement that is followed by "I'm just saying..." be changed in meaning if that expression were not there?
- mrkelley23
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Re: Mr. Wintergreen (about Bruce)
I'll try. I don't remember which stand-up comedian originated it as a verbal abbreviation, of sorts, but it started as a pained expression of self-defense when one had made a statement that he thought was fairly innocuous, but others took offense to. Imagine this conversation:TheConfessor wrote:Can someone tell me what "I'm just saying...." means? It seems to have entered the language in recent years as a crutch for something, but I'm not sure what. Is there some implied object or clause that is unspoken but universally understood. How would any statement that is followed by "I'm just saying..." be changed in meaning if that expression were not there?AnnieCamaro wrote:I'm just saying....
Comic: So, how 'bout those golden globes on Hillary Clinton (or Barbara Bush, or Mamie Eisenhower, or substitute your own female political figure here)? I tell ya, she really needs some of those bulldozer back-up beeps when she goes into reverse, know what I mean?
Crowd: <universal>
Comic: Hey, I'm just saying I think she's not a front-loader, that's all! I hear she's auditioning for the role of the Alien Queen in Alien 5, though.
In other words, the "I'm just saying" was shorthand for "I know I said something a little outrageous, and just to drive the point home, I'm gonna get a few more whacks in, too!"
Nowadays, it has gotten the sitcom treatment, so it's just a comic punchline-without-a-joke. It doesn't rankle me as much as it apparently does you, though. I reserve my indignation for "nucular" and "like."
Last edited by mrkelley23 on Tue Oct 09, 2007 3:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- MarleysGh0st
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Re: Mr. Wintergreen (about Bruce)
It's all good.mrkelley23 wrote: It doesn't rankle me as much as it apprently does you, though. I reserve my indignation for "nucular" and "like."
But what does the <universal> reaction mean?
- Bixby17
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Re: Mr. Wintergreen (about Bruce)
Personally, I use it as a way to express a thought but soften it to not make it sound accusatory toward the person you are talking to, but rather as a generalized statement.TheConfessor wrote:Can someone tell me what "I'm just saying...." means? It seems to have entered the language in recent years as a crutch for something, but I'm not sure what. Is there some implied object or clause that is unspoken but universally understood. How would any statement that is followed by "I'm just saying..." be changed in meaning if that expression were not there?AnnieCamaro wrote:I'm just saying....
- mrkelley23
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Re: Mr. Wintergreen (about Bruce)
Okay, that's funny. I didn't preview my post before I hit submit, but I know I glanced at it before I hit post, and I'm pretty sure the line after "Crowd:" said something like "universal gasp of horror and disgust." Either I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally mis-typed, or somethjing about the gtlt signs caused part of that sentence to be truncated. I'm not good enough with the subtleties yet to know if that's possible or not.MarleysGh0st wrote:It's all good.mrkelley23 wrote: It doesn't rankle me as much as it apprently does you, though. I reserve my indignation for "nucular" and "like."
But what does the <universal> reaction mean?
- Bruce the Wonder Cat
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- mrkelley23
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Re: Mr. Wintergreen (about Bruce)
OK, am I the only one who wants to go back through all the old posts to see how many had Bix saying "I'm just saying" to someone?Bixby17 wrote:Personally, I use it as a way to express a thought but soften it to not make it sound accusatory toward the person you are talking to, but rather as a generalized statement.TheConfessor wrote:Can someone tell me what "I'm just saying...." means? It seems to have entered the language in recent years as a crutch for something, but I'm not sure what. Is there some implied object or clause that is unspoken but universally understood. How would any statement that is followed by "I'm just saying..." be changed in meaning if that expression were not there?AnnieCamaro wrote:I'm just saying....
- mrkelley23
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Pretty good discussion on The Confessor's question here:
http://www.painintheenglish.com/post.php?id=958
http://www.painintheenglish.com/post.php?id=958
- AnnieCamaro
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- MissDenise
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BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE
So very good to see you here.
- Bob Juch
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Re: BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE
This place is going to the dogs!MissDenise wrote:So very good to see you here.
- AnnieCamaro
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Re: BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE
I like that running-back-and-forth picture, Mr. Bob, but Denise is a beautiful cat. She has red hair, like her roommate, Miss Melly. Denise also will be a noteworthy cast member in my opera, Guinefort.Bob Juch wrote:This place is going to the dogs!MissDenise wrote:So very good to see you here.
I'm very happy that she came over here, too.
- bingohardware
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bruce - i think i may have found out what happened to your missing parts
http://www.goodecompany.com/detail.aspx?ID=482
http://www.goodecompany.com/detail.aspx?ID=482
- Bob Juch
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Re: BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE
Oh, I knew that. I was warning her she was outnumbered.AnnieCamaro wrote:I like that running-back-and-forth picture, Mr. Bob, but Denise is a beautiful cat. She has red hair, like her roommate, Miss Melly. Denise also will be a noteworthy cast member in my opera, Guinefort.Bob Juch wrote:This place is going to the dogs!MissDenise wrote:So very good to see you here.
I'm very happy that she came over here, too.
- cindy.wellman
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re: I'm just sayin'
Another interesting thing I've noticed about this expression is that a lot of the times that I've heard it said, the person saying it will use a gesture to go along with it. The gesture consists of putting your hand in the air, like a flat palmed wave, and sort of tilting your head towards the wave.
"I'm just sayin'....."
So, to me it seems like it is someone stating something obvious, but trying to lessen the harshness of whatever they are saying. It is kind of like putting a smiley at the end of a sentence to say, "Yeah, I just said something that might be objectionable, but I'm saying it with the intent that I want leave the conversation, or sentence, as friends"
Cindy, who thinks the Yankees are silly.
"I'm just sayin'....."
So, to me it seems like it is someone stating something obvious, but trying to lessen the harshness of whatever they are saying. It is kind of like putting a smiley at the end of a sentence to say, "Yeah, I just said something that might be objectionable, but I'm saying it with the intent that I want leave the conversation, or sentence, as friends"
Cindy, who thinks the Yankees are silly.
- earendel
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Re: Mr. Wintergreen (about Bruce)
I noticed that yesterday when I put the words "good vibes" between the brackets: <<<good>>>mrkelley23 wrote:Okay, that's funny. I didn't preview my post before I hit submit, but I know I glanced at it before I hit post, and I'm pretty sure the line after "Crowd:" said something like "universal gasp of horror and disgust." Either I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally mis-typed, or somethjing about the gtlt signs caused part of that sentence to be truncated. I'm not good enough with the subtleties yet to know if that's possible or not.
Only the word "good" appeared. I'm not sure why that is.
- peacock2121
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- earendel
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Next migration (heaven forfend!) we need to appoint someone as a Noah to make sure all the four-footers are in the ark and make it safely through the storm.peacock2121 wrote:All is right with the world.
The fourfooters have made the trek.
"Elen sila lumenn omentielvo...A star shines on the hour of our meeting."