"Bless your heart!" Should I still feel offended? (live, friendly)

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

Uh oh! I say that all the time. Don't mean nothin by it.

Okay. I thought that meant "alright, you're welcome but you kind of put me out."

The cultural divide is confusing.

[dave1961]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

Uh oh! I say that all the time. Don't mean nothin by it.

You keep on saying it, then!

[jabogitlu]

I think, hik, it probably depends on the tone, eh?

[leonard]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

You're catching on.

Knoxgarden is right. "Nice" is usually totally fake and/or insulting. "Oh, that's nice," sometimes isn't *that* bad, but almost always means "Oh, okay, I'm not really listening to you and/or don't care."

It is similar to a woman saying something is "cute' to a female over 12. It means I can't tell you what it really looks like on you dear, so I will slither out of it by saying it is "cute".

Oh, and in the South they add "Bless your heart".

[DubbleT]

I've heard "bless your heart" used in the same way as "well, aren't you special"

[chelseagrrl]

Originally Posted by leonard

It is similar to a woman saying something is "cute' to a female over 12. It means I can't tell you what it really looks like on you dear, so I will slither out of it by saying it is "cute".

Except that some of us say cute and mean it in a positive way. Sometimes pretty or whatever doesn't hit the mark, but cute does. I think "nice" is more often used in the way you mean. (At least with the people I know!)

[RamblinRoseRanch]

My pet peeve is 'have a good un' - I wanna ask "Have a good one WHAT?" and am always sure to tell someone to have a good day, afternoon- whatever JUST.NOT.A.GOOD.ONE. :-)

To me, "bless your heart" means a few things. Said sincerely it means "i'm at a loss and don't know what else to say" said insincerely, it means "you're a bit daft and slow, but you're sweet." lol

[jabogitlu]

Hm, but English is full of that usage, Rose. (Specifically, I'm talking about utiziling 'one' as a placeholder for another noun.)

Obviously, it means have a good day. Or night. Or life. But if you don't like it, feel free to ignore it.

[piedmont]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Okay. I thought that meant "alright, you're welcome but you kind of put me out."

It often does mean exactly that. Oftimes said when the person is working but clearly would rather not be.

Just remember to enjoy all these southernisms while you can. Mass media and culture are steadily wiping out regional accents, words and syntax!

[jabogitlu]

Oh, that must be it. When I'm working, I clearly would rather not be.