Down the Well
The word "well" doesn't carry the same positive connotation as it used to. Maybe it never did. Even back in the day, people used to say "swell" instead of "well".
First of all, you don't hear people say "I'm well" or "I'm doing well" anymore unless they're being very formal. Usually when someone says they're well, they are saying that they are not quite done with a recent period when they weren't well, in terms of health or wealth.
So when you ask someone how they are doing and you hear "well", what people are trying to say to you is "Well, things aren't really that good, but I don't know you well enough to dump my problems on you."
It's actually not a bad term to use if you want to blow someone off. You say "I'm well" causing the conversation to hit the brakes and it's over. The most someone can come back with is "Oh that's good." See ya later!
When a doctor says, "The patient is doing well" what he/she really is saying is "It could go either way, I have no clue bro".
Now if some attaches a "very" to the "well", that's a whole different ballgame. That usually means they are sincerely doing great.
An "Oh" preceding "well" means they really don't care and they are trying to sound empathetic when they really could give a you know what. You may hear this after uttering the following sentence, "My car's engine just quit, I may have to junk it and get a new one."
...Yeah well!
Comments welcome
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Read the Novels by Chetan Davé click here
Copyright 2006 by Chetan Davé ©, All Rights Reserved.
First of all, you don't hear people say "I'm well" or "I'm doing well" anymore unless they're being very formal. Usually when someone says they're well, they are saying that they are not quite done with a recent period when they weren't well, in terms of health or wealth.
So when you ask someone how they are doing and you hear "well", what people are trying to say to you is "Well, things aren't really that good, but I don't know you well enough to dump my problems on you."
It's actually not a bad term to use if you want to blow someone off. You say "I'm well" causing the conversation to hit the brakes and it's over. The most someone can come back with is "Oh that's good." See ya later!
When a doctor says, "The patient is doing well" what he/she really is saying is "It could go either way, I have no clue bro".
Now if some attaches a "very" to the "well", that's a whole different ballgame. That usually means they are sincerely doing great.
An "Oh" preceding "well" means they really don't care and they are trying to sound empathetic when they really could give a you know what. You may hear this after uttering the following sentence, "My car's engine just quit, I may have to junk it and get a new one."
...Yeah well!
Comments welcome
Send this post to a friend!
Read the Novels by Chetan Davé click here
Copyright 2006 by Chetan Davé ©, All Rights Reserved.
posted by UltimateWriter at 8:54 AM
6 Comments:
well, uh, d'y'know'what'i'mean?!
I'm pretty-well used up!
Well is now the same as "okay."
Somehow when I respond with "I'm okay," people assume that I'm not fine. Okay is okay.
when did Okay become Crap.
There is this fellow from church, everytime I ask him how he is doing he says blessed. I keep trying to catch him in a bad mood to get another response, but it's always blessed. I once told him to have a nice day, he told me to have a better one. This guy is really starting to get on my nerves.
I use "I'm doing well" or "I'm fine" as an answer to the "How areyou?" question, but it doesn't always mean I want people to go away, it just means I'm good. :)
Oh well :)
ppd: always wanted to learn more languages
jlb:i know what u mean
guggenflurgen: Okay is fine by me
cm: yeah you have to worry about people who are a little too happy
oilf: whatever works
Well, that really makes sense!
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