Have you noticed it, too? How "Have a nice day!" has mutated into "Have a nice rest of your [insert time period]!", e.g. "Have a nice rest of your evening!"? I'm hearing it all the time now. The first few times I thought, that's a bit weird, maybe he / she has jumbled up a couple of idioms? (my partner does this all the time), but it has clearly become a thing in its own right, with a more acceptable variant (grammatically, anyway), "Enjoy the rest of your [time period]!".
I do seem to recall that "Have a nice rest of your life..." pre-existed this as a sarcastic brush-off – that odd grammatical wobble between "have a nice" and "rest of" gave it a certain rhetorical force – but this is different; clearly a new, faux-friendly formula: counter staff and checkout operators, for the use of. Perhaps it is mandated by management? It wouldn't surprise me. I even heard it used the other day as a sign-off by a BBC Radio 4 news presenter, who may well have unconsciously borrowed it off the nice young man who sold her a latte that morning. That's the virus-like way these thing spread.
For some reason I find this awkward formula even more annoying than I found "Have a nice day!". I have yet to come up with a snappy rejoinder, situated somewhere on the spectrum between "You, too, babe!" and "Fuck off, you twerp...", but I will, Oscar, I will. Although I suppose an uninflected "Thanks..." might be enough. After all, retail assistants shouldn't be on the receiving end of constant "micro-aggressions" from elderly pedants as they enjoy the rest of a dull spell at the till.
It is possible that this is yet another Americanism imported by the younger generations, along with "can I get" (what, no "please" or "could I have"?) and "Gen Zee" (not "Zed"). Seen from over here, American speech-ways have always had an attractive vivacity to the young, no matter how conventional (or deprecated) they might be back home in the States. Talking of which, I'm currently intrigued by the way Americans say "it's not that big of a [thing e.g. problem]", not (as a Brit would), "it's not that big a [thing e.g. problem]", or perhaps more likely, "It's not such a big [thing e.g. problem]".
So far I have yet to hear or read anyone saying, "It's not that rusty of a car", but I did see today "It's not that scary of a situation", so I wonder if it might have something to do with "expressions of magnitude when relating to abstract nouns"? Would any of you, my esteemed American readers, ever say, for example, "It's not that scary of a dog"? By the same token, would a Brit ever say "It's not that scary a dog?" Probably not? More likely, "It's not such a scary dog"? It may also have something to do with the similar, but subtly different formula "it's not that much of a problem", which we would also say, not to mention "it's one hell of a problem", ditto. The "of" is clearly doing two different sorts of work here, one of which seems oddly superfluous to a British English speaker. Who knows? Someone probably does. Call a linguist!
Anyway, doubtless sooner or later some of us here will start saying it, and insisting that they always have, and that it is correct. See also "bored of" vs. "bored with". Nobody was ever bored of anything when I was a kid, although it's true you might get bored with boring stuff like homework, eventually. I'm not generally a language peever-pedant, though: language is as language does. Or rather, language is as people do it. It's just that some people do it so annoyingly.
What intrigues me is how quickly these speech trends find their way into general usage. Now, for example, nearly everyone interviewed on the radio kicks off by saying, in reply to the first question, "Thank you for having me on the programme!". Which is bizarre, isn't it?, as if BBC Radio 4's Today programme were a children's birthday party. It's not as if they haven't been held on the line or in a side-room, kept warm by some editorial assistant (no, not like that), with plenty of time to have expressed their gratitude for two minutes of fame. Perhaps – here's a thought, BBC – that assistant should warn them, "Please, do not on any account waste valuable airtime by thanking your interviewer, asking after their health, or using any other fashionable throat-clearing phatic noise you may have heard others use!". "Good afternoon, Sarah!" is another one; essentially an implied rebuke to the interviewer's lack of manners, for not having wished them the same (especially if their name is not Sarah). More recently I'm also hearing the deeply patronising reflex response, "That's a great question!", as if a professional radio presenter was just some idiot sitting in the audience who'd unexpectedly put their finger on something important. Well done, you!
Some of these fashionable adoptions enter the language permanently Р"gotten" seems to be sneaking back into British English Рwhile others have a very short life. It seems like only yesterday that someone, somewhere came up with "good boy" as a cute synonym for "dog", for example; now it's everywhere. A recent article heading in PetaPixel, for example: "Good Boys and Girls Star in the Dog Photography Awards 2025". But hasn't this already started to seem like a tired clich̩? I'm reminded of the rise and fall of "wally" in Britain: I wrote about this way back in 2009, and I see no point in repeating it here. But if you have ever wondered where expressions like "he's a bit of a wally" came from (ah, but which bit?) , then follow the link. All will be revealed.
The rise and fall of such linguistic items reflects the endless churn of the 10,000 things, obviously. Not heard of Dubai chocolate yet? Neither had I. When I did, I thought it was a joke, perhaps some sort of euphemism ("Dammit, I've just stepped in some Dubai chocolate!") or shorthand for a figure of speech ("It melted away like a bar of chocolate in Dubai"). But then neither you nor I are much influenced by influencers, if at all, are we? So let's not even get started on the idiotic "six seven" thing, as I expect that will already be over by the time I get to the end of this sentence, with any luck. Kids, eh?
Then there's talking too much, and much, much too fast in an inaudible croak or mutter... But that's a different post. File under "I'm a tolerant man, but..."
That'll do. So have a nice rest of your web-surfing! Or maybe just have a nice rest. But don't forget to take your good boy out for a walk, you wally. Six-seven!
2 comments:
Leave it to The Hat to inform and entertain. Being of the grandfatherly age bracket, I've missed the 6-7 exclamation. I can hear my eighth grade classmates shouting it on a regular basis. Doubai Chocolate? Residing under a rock here, apparently. I'm much reassured though to read that Germans tested the "chocolate bars" and found all eight samples "defective." And now there's a strain on the world pistachio supply. What gives with Humans?
I don't like the sound of a pistachio shortage... Something must be done!
Mike
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