I Know, Right?
When I put on my 'Lil Thinker Cap, the above statement/question doesn't really make sense to me, but I use it all the time. I blame Robin, who started using it before anyone else that I can think of, so thanks hon for giving me a conundrum! Let's work on this one together by me talking through it myself:
Now that I'm hearing "I know, right?," pretty much everywhere, I'm going to assume it has officially entered our commonly used phrases, OMG. Like any language, ours will evolve to resemble nothing close to what it grew from (English majors? I'm looking at you and your stupid Middle English which makes zero sense and nobody goddam cares anymore so shut up). That said, I still think it's important to examine what sense our newly-found phrases make, if any.
The way I sees it, "I know, right," is actually two distinct affirmations; "I know," and "right." "I know" simply affirms the validity of what was said based on the available data from one's Personal Data Warehouse. "Right?," as a question confirms validity, but only kinda. It does the same thing as "I know," only with less words (efficient German language!). However, since the emphasis is on the ? and said with a questioning tone, it softens that confirmation. This is not to say that one isn't confirming what they're hearing, but the normal oomph of "right" isn't there. Were it not for the ?, the phrase would be redundantly redundant; I know, right. With the ?, the actual words in the phrase are doubly confirming something, but really only 3/4 of the way. I know (1/2), right? (1/4).
Now let us take it one. Step. Further! While it is true that "I know" and "right" affirm validity, there is a subtle nuance (and grace?) to be explored. In my view, "I know" would most likely be stated in regards to something you wouldn't assume is objectively known. "OMG, that game was fantastic!," says my imaginary friend, to whom I reply, "I know." The game isn't something that most or all people would know about. A few days later, my imaginary friend and I are in a heated debate about the temperature of the sun when s/he says, "Solar flares are totally bitchin'!," to which I say, "Right!," because it is objectively known that solar flares are totally bitchin'.
So, when someone says, "I know, right?," what they are doing is validating with personal knowledge and adding a half-assed objective validation based on what they think should be objective knowledge. "Dude. Croissants are the best invention ever!," says a well-informed gentleman to his friend who replies, "I know, right?" Both of them agree that croissants are the best invention ever, but frankly, it should be objective FACT that croissants are the best invention ever. However, croissants have not yet been objectively proven to be the best invention ever, and because the well-informed gentlemen and his friend wouldn't want to come off as pretentiously all-knowing (right though they are), they use "I know, right?," to soften the blow.
"Dude. This blog post was totally pointless. I want those three minutes of my life back."
"I know, right?"
Now that I'm hearing "I know, right?," pretty much everywhere, I'm going to assume it has officially entered our commonly used phrases, OMG. Like any language, ours will evolve to resemble nothing close to what it grew from (English majors? I'm looking at you and your stupid Middle English which makes zero sense and nobody goddam cares anymore so shut up). That said, I still think it's important to examine what sense our newly-found phrases make, if any.
The way I sees it, "I know, right," is actually two distinct affirmations; "I know," and "right." "I know" simply affirms the validity of what was said based on the available data from one's Personal Data Warehouse. "Right?," as a question confirms validity, but only kinda. It does the same thing as "I know," only with less words (efficient German language!). However, since the emphasis is on the ? and said with a questioning tone, it softens that confirmation. This is not to say that one isn't confirming what they're hearing, but the normal oomph of "right" isn't there. Were it not for the ?, the phrase would be redundantly redundant; I know, right. With the ?, the actual words in the phrase are doubly confirming something, but really only 3/4 of the way. I know (1/2), right? (1/4).
Now let us take it one. Step. Further! While it is true that "I know" and "right" affirm validity, there is a subtle nuance (and grace?) to be explored. In my view, "I know" would most likely be stated in regards to something you wouldn't assume is objectively known. "OMG, that game was fantastic!," says my imaginary friend, to whom I reply, "I know." The game isn't something that most or all people would know about. A few days later, my imaginary friend and I are in a heated debate about the temperature of the sun when s/he says, "Solar flares are totally bitchin'!," to which I say, "Right!," because it is objectively known that solar flares are totally bitchin'.
So, when someone says, "I know, right?," what they are doing is validating with personal knowledge and adding a half-assed objective validation based on what they think should be objective knowledge. "Dude. Croissants are the best invention ever!," says a well-informed gentleman to his friend who replies, "I know, right?" Both of them agree that croissants are the best invention ever, but frankly, it should be objective FACT that croissants are the best invention ever. However, croissants have not yet been objectively proven to be the best invention ever, and because the well-informed gentlemen and his friend wouldn't want to come off as pretentiously all-knowing (right though they are), they use "I know, right?," to soften the blow.
"Dude. This blog post was totally pointless. I want those three minutes of my life back."
"I know, right?"
posted by Infused Confusion at
8:19 AM
2 Comments:
Yeah, I think appending the "right?" is the 21 century's "I'm okay; you're okay" pat-on-the-head approach to the just plain "I know" of the 90s.
Because I remember an era of saying "I know" after just about every statement--whether or not it was necessary, and whether or not I actually knew crap--and it does come off a bit high handed sometimes.
Today's soft society functions on a reward system, so it's not surprising that, even conversationally, we have to coddle each other.
I might be over thinking this. I could probably start quoting song lyrics at this point at make just as much sense.
Ooh--also? Everything ends in a question mark now anyway? So, like, that's also why? 'N stuff?
By
April, At
7:05 PM
OK, dude.
I'm a word person. I am making a career out of caring about words. I get paid to obsess about the meaning of every word.
But I say that all the time and don't care that it's a weird statement. :)
Also, I remember Robin saying that before others did as well. I may have picked it up from him.
By
Copy Editor, At
10:35 PM
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