I’ve seen people using “that’s what she said” in a very serious setting, as a way to say “good point/touché”. They had no idea it was from the Office.
‘You only use 10% of your brain’ is only referring to the physical areas of your brain. Which is not true, because we have scans that can show that we use all areas of the brain.
I always thought that saying was referring to how we only use 10% of our brains potential.
“Nuff said”
I was maybe 14 before I figured out that “Nuff” is a shortened form of “Enough” rather than someone’s name. XD
I thought kid gloves were for dealing with kids but actually they’re made from the skin of kids.
Also of note, I thought the kids were children.
I’ve seen people using “that’s what she said” in a very serious setting, as a way to say “good point/touché”.
As in there was a literal she who literally said that? Otherwise I can’t understand this.
“That’s what she said” long predates the office. I feel like it was used in SNL in the 80’s.
That’s what she said appears in print as early as Edmond Addeo and Robert Burger’s 1973 book EgoSpeak: Why No One Listens to You: “The cheapest shot of all, of course, is the ancient one-liner, ‘That’s what she said.’ This reply can be used after virtually any remark, however innocent, and the speaker can summon up some hint of double-entendre.”
As an ESL: “IKR” aka “I know, right?”. I thought it has kind of passive-aggressive/sarcastic undertext, meaning something more of a “bro cmon this is obvious/trivial”, while it’s actually seems to be quite the opposite - emphatic affirmation of someones excitement about something. Keep in mind, I’ve never heard it IRL as I rarely talk to native speakers IRL, it was just a wrong impression from chats and online discussions.
“that’s what she said” isn’t from the Office though. It’s way older then that. It was already a catchpharse on Saturday Night Live in the 80s. Probably older then that still.
TIL!
It’s time had come and gone, and was a super cringy thing to say when The Office started. And cringy humor in tv shows wasn’t really a thing yet. The Office really pioneered the genre. The joke with Michael saying it was how out of touch he was.
blink
it’s definitely not from the office, lol. it’s an old old joke that probably predates television.
the joke was really that he was so out of touch he was using a quite dated sexist joke.
Growing up I always wrote off “it’s always in the last place you look” as just another random thing adults loved to just say all the time.
It’s meant to be humorous or ironic, or to express frustration.
Of course it’s in the last place you look, because once you find it you stop looking.
My interpretation of it wasn’t meaningless.
Like my search for object algorithm goes like:
- First look where I expect it to be. It’s not really missing at this point.
- Then I think of whether I can remember putting it somewhere different and check there. If it doesn’t turn up at this point, I now consider it missing.
- At this point, I’ll make a mental list of all of the places it makes sense to be and search down that list.
- If it’s still not found, then I’ll start just looking everywhere until either I find it, get distracted by something else, or give up on finding it.
I always thought of “it’s in the last place you look” in terms of the list in #3. You think of 5 places it might be, and whatever the order you check them in, it will be in the 5th location you check.
Your interpretation sounds more like it’s in terms of #4. Or maybe #3 but checking each place as you think of it instead of building up a backlog.
So is that phrase a joke? I see people talk about how dumb/obvious it is, but I always thought it meant “it’s always in the last place you [would have thought to] look”, as in a ridiculous place you’d never consider.
However my whole family is ADHD and used to setting things in dumb spots you’d never check.
I never really got it for the same reason. Not sure if my parents misworded it, or if I misinterpreted.
On King of the Hill, Peggy says that in an episode and it always cracks me up, because she’s an idiot.
and whose the obvious winner there. Dale.
Well damn, that just clicked for me.
For the longest time I thought “limp wristed” meant ineffective, like if you were to hold something with a limp wrist you were more liable to drop it.
That was a fun day at work when I found out what it actually meant… after using the term in the middle of a meeting to describe a vendor’s poor performance.
Same with using the phrase “raw-dogging” (I think there was a cartoon about it.)
As a non native English speaker it took me some time to fully grasp the meaning of “i couldn’t care less” it’s quite tricky
Don’t worry, plenty of people in the US get it wrong.
In my language I though it was “bære den af” litrally translation, to carry it off. Turns out its “bære nag”, carry a bunch of straws. The saying means to hold a grudge. They do sound super close to each other when spoken
All but impossible and next to impossible.
how were you misusing them?
Indefinite leave to remain.
English is a very weird language.
What did you think it meant?
I didn’t know what to make of it. I had to read and double that it means what it is used for.
I never knew it was from the office but I wouldn’t know how to use it beyond s contextual reference to sex. A serious setting including sex jokes is either a niche industry or a red flag.
I don’t think it’s from The Office. OP must have heard it there first and assumed.
But yeah, agreed. Had a coworker who was a little too comfortable making those jokes, including constant “that’s what she said” jokes. He turned out to be an entitled, abusive creep the first time a woman shut down one of those jokes. Now I see what a big red flag it is.
The sad thing for myself, a Brit that enjoyed the British version ( the original ) and can’t watch more than a minute of that other load of crap, is that this saying is attributed to that shit show when it’s been around for so much longer. It used to carry some weight when used sparingly and in the right context. Now it is so much more cheapened.
Well anyway OP, I hope you’ve learned a thing.If you go into the US office expecting more of the UK office, you will be disappointed.
The first season is the closest to the original, but not great.
Then it found it’s own flavour from season 2 onwards.Might be worth dipping your toes into a random episode in season 2 or 3. If you go in without prejudice or expectations, you might discover it’s charm.
I find that a lot with US series. Season 1 is “see what sticks” and the rest of the seasons get their groove.
