One time I was in a fast food line, and when the person working the counter handed her cutomer his order, she said 'have a nice day.' Without a smile he said 'why should I?' and walked off. It seemed a little rude, though I'm sure I remember this more than the server does. Nowadays, 'have a nice day' can sound tiresome but you still be gracious about it.
Someone else noted "Have a good one", morphed from "have a good day". Again, this falls into closure phrases that are just that, a bracket, as in the written "best" instead of Best regards. I am not about to go back to "Y'r most obedient servent".
The usage here is just social short cut speech, something polite to bracket an interaction.
So I guess the phrase “Enjoy” depends on the specific context of the action before the word. Yes in a restaurant, a waitperson who puts down a meal and says “enjoy” before you have a taste is offering you a command. On the other hand, as a jewelry retailer who made the product a person was going to wear, I often said “enjoy”, but only after they had tried a piece on and offered their compliments and stated their happiness about it. Perhaps if the waitperson had waited until you tasted it and you approved it, it would not be so much a command as a desire for you to actually enjoy yourself while eating.
is there a way to subscribe to your May I Have a Word column without a boston globe subscription?
One time I was in a fast food line, and when the person working the counter handed her cutomer his order, she said 'have a nice day.' Without a smile he said 'why should I?' and walked off. It seemed a little rude, though I'm sure I remember this more than the server does. Nowadays, 'have a nice day' can sound tiresome but you still be gracious about it.
Regarding this concern, there is always the literary use in Alice in Wonderland.
And, more modern, there is Neal Stephenson’s command used as a morphed title, Reamde (see https://www.google.com/search?q=reamde&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS882US1035&oq=reamde&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCggAEAAY4wIYgAQyCggAEAAY4wIYgAQyBwgBEC4YgAQyBwgCEAAYgAQyBwgDEAAYgAQyCQgEEAAYChiABDIHCAUQABiABDIHCAYQABiABDIJCAcQABgKGIAEMgcICBAAGIAEMgcICRAAGIAE0gEIMzkzNWoxajSoAgCwAgE&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8).
Someone else noted "Have a good one", morphed from "have a good day". Again, this falls into closure phrases that are just that, a bracket, as in the written "best" instead of Best regards. I am not about to go back to "Y'r most obedient servent".
The usage here is just social short cut speech, something polite to bracket an interaction.
Jeff Kaufman
Oooh. Touchy, touchy, touchy!
How about "Good morning. Happy New Year. Have a nice day. Bon voyage."? Commands or inoffensive social suggestions?
Sit back, relax, have a cold one.
Ooh, sorry. I didn't mean to tell you what to do.
😉
Tom
My pet peeve is , "have a good one." A good what? I can't help thinking.
So I guess the phrase “Enjoy” depends on the specific context of the action before the word. Yes in a restaurant, a waitperson who puts down a meal and says “enjoy” before you have a taste is offering you a command. On the other hand, as a jewelry retailer who made the product a person was going to wear, I often said “enjoy”, but only after they had tried a piece on and offered their compliments and stated their happiness about it. Perhaps if the waitperson had waited until you tasted it and you approved it, it would not be so much a command as a desire for you to actually enjoy yourself while eating.