Dumb Things People Say

People often ask, "Can I ask you a question?" What kind of question is that? You've just done so. It would be better to either ask the question itself, or if the circumstances seem to warrant more politeness than that, one could ask, "May I interrupt you?" or "I'd like to ask a question."

This isn't really even a pet peeve of mine. It's more along the lines of something people do make no sense. I probably do it myself. But it does make me think how much talking people do that's really just noise--words people say that have no real significance or meaning. The way people drop the word "like" into their sentences almost randomly, a kind of verbal comma.

Or when people come by my office and say "Are you busy?" To which I am always tempted to reply, "No, I've just been sitting here waiting for you to drop by."

I know this blog entry is pretty lousy. I'll try to do better next time.