currently outlining a linguistics paper in my head arguing that "you too" is among the phrases that have become lexicalized and are slowly drifting from their literal meaning simply so I won't have to feel embarrassed after the check-in lady said "have a good flight"
Ryan, theologically speaking this opens up tremendous soteriological ground for me specifically following several incidents last year in which I was wished a happy birthday and responded in kind.
I'd love to have the abstract available to hand to all the people who say it when I greet them with "Welcome!" or after I tell them to "enjoy those books" as they leave.
One time I just made direct eye contact with one of them and very deliberately said "you too." They remember it to this day and still get a kick out of it
a funny story about this is my brother's birthday is christmas eve, and after a few weeks of "merry christmas" "you too" guess how he'd respond to "happy birthday"
The phrase that has entered my lexicon as a response that doesn't have any particular time-based dependencies is "have a good one". Sometimes I'll add a Canadian "eh?" onto the end.
You just need to really lean into it, and be very genuine. Let them see the look of devastation and betrayal on your face when they tell you they aren’t flying with you.
My birthday is on Christmas Day. For many years as Christmas approaches, I have found myself answering seasonal greetings with a cheery, "Happy birthday!"
reminds me of the time I was giving a test to a class--on his way out, an African student handed his test to me and said, "Have a blessed day", and I automatically said, "You too", and then spent the rest of the day tormented by the implications
There have been a few times when someone has said "enjoy your meal" (or flight, etc.) and I've caught myself partway through reflexively saying "you too", and in those circumstances I steer directly into the disaster: "You too, should also enjoy your meal."
This paper would be so directly useful to so many people across the Anglosphere... I await with interest a list of potential meanings to claim in those situations 😂
The real fun bit, as a former service industry person, is finding out that service people often do this on purposes.
The even more fun bit is that we still fall for it just as easy, if not easier.
one time I corrected myself after you-tooing and they kinda grunted and then later the check-in person turned out to be my flight attendant so I was ashamed twice
Currently trying to train myself to respond to all statements, well-wishes or courtesies directed at me with "as foretold by prophecy" to encourage people not to interact with me.
It's going well. (as foretold by prophecy)
