Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How “no worries” infected American English

qz.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 63 posts

Re: How “no worries” infected American English

#41

Post by chris_wot »

jen729w wrote: post #30
steveyolbert wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think his name is John Howard, he never called himself Johnnie. Unless you were calling him 'Johnnie' to make him sound small. Which would be a breathtakingly childish and hollow rhetorical device. Stick to the meaningful policy debate.

How'd this get a downvote?! Perfectly valid point. Australian here. John Howard has never, ever, by anyone, ever, been called "Johnnie". Ever.

Sure hope you are being facetious, because Little Johnnie Howard has been called that pejorative by plenty of people from all over Australia. Still gets used to this day!

Re: How “no worries” infected American English

#42

Post by chris_wot »

cfontes wrote: post #14
meric wrote: post #3

Oh wow, I've said "no worries" for as long as I remember, I thought that was an English language thing rather than specific to my country. I was even starting to avoid saying it because the "no" sounded negative. Well, forget about that! I'll proudly say: No worries, mate from now on.

It matches perfectly with the country vibe to tell you the truth... Very relaxed place in the general sense. Lived there for 2 years (Perth) and I just use it now a lot too.

Yeah, that's more a state vibe. I can assure you, Sydney is nowhere near as laid back.

Re: How “no worries” infected American English

#43

Post by chris_wot »

gradstudent wrote: post #11
rmccue wrote: post #9

Never even realised this was an Australian thing. I kind of assumed it was a universal English thing, with the more Australian variant being "no wuckas".

No wuckas? Now you're just making stuff up.

Nope, that's often used. I personally don't use it, but I know others who have, frequently.

Re: How “no worries” infected American English

#45

Post by m-i-l »

In the UK there has also been the relatively recent arrival of the "upward inflection", i.e. making statements sound like questions, which may also have arrived from Australia:

"in the UK many people take it as a given that the speech pattern arrived from Australia, going so far as to dub it the Australian Question Intonation. Some laymen go even further and trace the shift in British speech patterns to the arrival of soap opera Neighbours on British television in 1986."[0]

[0] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28708526

Re: How “no worries” infected American English

#46

Post by jmilloy »

stretchwithme wrote: post #38

Does it really mean "you're welcome"? I used it to let people know they needn't be concerned about some perceived imposition. I'm not worried, so you shouldn't be either. It's a great expression.

Yes, it really does, and it was surprising at first because I used (and interpreted) it in the same sense you do.

Another one is "you're alright" to also means "you're welcome" (at least where I was in Queensland). Yeah, I am alright, and I'm also thanking you! Takes some getting used to.

Re: How “no worries” infected American English

#48

Post by rmccue »

vacri wrote: post #21
rmccue wrote: post #9

Never even realised this was an Australian thing. I kind of assumed it was a universal English thing, with the more Australian variant being "no wuckas".

'No wuckas' is nowhere near as common as 'no worries' in Australia. 'No wuckas' is only when you're being blokey and making a point of the phrase; raising the 'ocker' factor. Most day to day usage is 'no worries' - in most retail shops, for example, if you thank the staff for help, they're not going to say the 'wuckas' variant.

Absolutely, it's a much less formal term, primarily due to the origin.

Re: How “no worries” infected American English

#49

Post by rmccue »

jmilloy wrote: post #46
stretchwithme wrote: post #38

Does it really mean "you're welcome"? I used it to let people know they needn't be concerned about some perceived imposition. I'm not worried, so you shouldn't be either. It's a great expression.

Yes, it really does, and it was surprising at first because I used (and interpreted) it in the same sense you do. Another one is "you're alright" to also means "you're welcome" (at least where I was in Queensland). Yeah, I am alright, and I'm also thanking you! Takes some getting used to.

That one also gets shortened further to "you're right", and can be combined with "nah, yeah" to get an sentence like "nah, you're right".

Re: How “no worries” infected American English

#50

Post by jghn »

I had a kiwi boss in the early aughts and picked it up from him. People here in the states would generally had no idea what I was saying or would ask if I spent time in Oz.

Cut forward a few years and everyone seems to be saying it.

It was definitely a sharp incline of usage

Post reply on HN