let you go

Prolagus commented on the word let you go

Hilarious Urban Dictionary definition.

June 16, 2009

rolig commented on the word let you go

The telephone use of "I'm going to let you go now" is that polite American trick of acting like you're doing someone a favor when in fact you are telling them to do something (end the conversation). It is related to the "I need you to" locution (as when a nurse says, "I need you to lift your arm"). In both cases, suggesting that you are doing someone a favor or asking someone to do you a favor is a way of avoiding a direct imperative ("Get off the phone"; "Lift your arm"), which Americans interpret as rude. Similarly, we tend to phrase imperatives as questions: "Why don't you open the window?" "Could you turn down the volume a bit?" There is a deep-seated dislike, it seems, for the grammatical imperative.

June 16, 2009

reesetee commented on the word let you go

Rolig, your comments remind me of how my mother used to ask us to clean up a messy room. "Do you want to straighten up a bit in here?" she'd say. One day, on a whim, I decided to be a smart alec about it and answer her literally. "No thanks, I don't."

"Do it anyway," she ordered.

So much for teen rebellion. ;-)

June 17, 2009

chained_bear commented on the word let you go

Spot-on observation. Sometimes I find myself mentally groaning at the circumlocutions of language required (esp. at work), when all I really want to get across is something as abrupt and easy-to-enunciate as, for example, "oh, shut up."

June 17, 2009