NT phrases or questions that drive you nuts!

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That's probably a different tradition.

In the USA we also say "gesundheit" (the almost identical German version of your same word) when someone sneezes (though 'bless you' is more common) which means something like "to your health". We Americans got the expression from the huge influx of German immigrants to America in the 1840's who also introduced the expletive "ouch", and also introduced the custom of putting up Christmas trees. The German royal family became the British Royal family at about that same time, so the Brits also adopted German habits like Christmas trees at about the same time. Dont know if Brits say "gesundheit" though.

For years whenever I asked my dad something such as "When's supper going to be ready?", he would say "After."

After what? I starve to death?

Also some people I've known would say "How?" instead of "Why?". I think this might be something people from Ontario normally say, but it bugs me for some reason.

Also my parents call it a "bun" of bread instead of a "loaf" of bread. To me, a bun is something much smaller that you use for hamburgers or hotdogs, or eat with your meal.

I find it a bit awkward when people say time like "a quarter till eight" instead of the more direct "seven forty-five". I guess this is more of a habit of people who have read analog clocks all their life, where the time is almost represented as a pie chart. I read digital clocks more often, and let my synesthesia construct a visual diagram of the time in my mind. What bothers me is when people leave out the hour when I ask them for the time. They'll say something "ten minutes til" or "eight minutes after" like I'm somehow expected to know what hour it is.

I find that confusing, too. >.<

We seem to have a lot in common in this thread!

Heh, yeah! ^^

"How are you" drives me to the wall at times. It's a generic term, but I have to "act" even when I have a horrible day, when it's around people in public.
When people use the words swag, yolo, like (many times in a sentence), bromance, etc. etc. Idiotic...couldn't they use more advanced vocabulary?
I agree on the questions as well. I.E. when an employee at a retail store asks "Do you need help?" I'll find it myself! If I absolutely have to, I will get help, but usually I know where the product I am looking for is.

Oh I forgot "swag"...what does that even mean anyway? I know what it's supposed to mean but all it makes me think of is curtains...and Carol Burnett wearing the curtains in her Gone with the Wind parody! lol But I guess people who say "swag" are probably too young to have watched many Carol Burnett shows.

And yeah...being asked if I need help in a store is so irritating...I know sometimes they have to follow that ten-foot rule of greeting the customer, but can't they tell when I'm walking AWAY from them and not seeking their attention, I don't want any help?? The funny thing is a lot of times they are walking away too and just calling out over their shoulder "Can I help you find anything?" and I know they don't really want to help anyway. Of course when I am looking at heavy stuff or wanting something down from a high shelf there is no one to be found. lol

Or worse when they ask directly "What are you looking for?" because then they are insisting on more than a yes/no answer.

Then there is the question "Are you finding everything okay?" which they tend to ask if I've been staring at something for a few minutes. And it can come across as kind of patronizing like they think I don't understand what I'm looking at...or else like they just want me to move along so they can stock the shelves or something.

But the silliest one is when they ask at checkout "Did you find everything ok?" This one is the most annoying because most of the time I know they are just being polite and have no desire to help me find anything I might have missed. But sometimes I like to start telling them all the stuff I wanted to find but didn't. haha

Its probably an abreviation for "HELLO...Earth to Naturalplastic!"

Rude? Maybe compared to calmly explaining to the person that "most folks know this basic thing that I am about to explain to you..".

But less rude than saying "what kinda dumbass are you?". Lol!

LOL, I love this one. I've never heard a cashier ask that though.

The only times I've heard 'swag' were for fan merchandise, like T-shirts or stickers.

Raleigh's explanation was what I was referring to, AnaHitori, and as dianthus said, it's with this emphasis: "HeLLO?"
Sure, it's a bit snarky, but a lot of things are. It's just something about that particular one that annoys me. Ugh yeah, that is really annoying. It doesn't happen too often, but I'd rather just browse in peace and seek them out if I need to. There have been a few instances where they keep it up and that just makes me leave. These days I seldom buy things like books, DVDs and games in brick and mortar stores, but rather online where I can browse and read some pages inside, check reviews and take all the time I want.

I'm sure it didn't originate there, but the phrase uttered by Biff in "Back to the Future" to Marty was, "Hello, McFly!" Which greeting, of course, was really more of an insult - as in, "get with the program."

Because I'm a child of the 80s...

"Hello" is used by West Indians to force another person to focus at the task at hand, or to focus, period. It's usually used with children from adults.

I've started your book, Untilwereturn. I like the virtuous, objective tone of it.

That one drives me nuts, too. I want to know the exact time, not a rounded off to-the-nearest hour response. If somebody says they'll meet me at 4:30, I'll stand in that exact place and expect that they'll show up there. Not at another time, not in a different spot. I'll just stand there at the appointed time. I don't wander around or look elsewhere for that person.

That's a kind compliment - thank you.

Untllwereturn: Were you ever diagnosed as having "minimal brain dysfunction" when you were quite young? Or with a "perceptual disorder?"

I find many people diagnosed with "brain damage/injury" or "minimal brain dysfunction" in the 1960s-1970s would be diagnosed with HFA/Asperger's/Level One ASD today.