"Not for nothin' but..."

[yesthattom]

Why do we have words that warn people when we’re about to tell the truth instead of having words
to warn people we’re about to lie? ‘No, to be totally full of shit I’d love to go shoe shopping with you!’

http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/archives/2006/04/041706.html

Comments

[rampling.livejournal.com]

Drat, can't watch the vid, have troubles with such things at work.

But, anyway, I always hear when I hear a clause such as "to be totally honest with you" -- it makes me specifically distrust what they're about to say, plus I end up adding distrust to everything they've ever said or will say. For me, saying such crap is an instant way to earn my distrust.

There's a radio ad playing locally where a guy says "And I can tell you, honestly, that....", and he does emphasize that word quite a bit. I cringe every time I hear it. It's the perfect not-quite-redundant warning-flag phrase for an ad.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

*laugh* Okay, I like this guy. That initial rant was Carlinesque.

[tinanj.livejournal.com]

hahaha - I am totally guilty of starting statements with "To be honest"...But I am honest!!! I swear!!! I also was a terrible abuser of "huh" and "like" in the mid-90's so it is just a fault of picking up cheesy grammer.

[marmota.livejournal.com]

Heh, I was grumbling about that recently here, and feste_sylvain pointed out that what "to be honest" usually means is "to be frank". Which, I'm inclined to parse as "get ready, I'm about to be so candid that you'll have a few seconds before slipping into shock to admire your still-beating heart after I rip it out and show it to you.". Well, ok, that's the second way I tend to parse it, but people would look at me really strangely if I voiced the snark that first comes to mind of "No, you were frank last week. Bend over, it's my turn to be frank. You can be sally.". Why yes, I've had to be polite to people all day today, and I've run out.