Monday, April 20, 2009

Did your Food Taste Well?

I am really annoyed at a whole lot of people and a whole lot of situations, but I am going to take it all out on an innocent server at a restaurant we went to last night who asked me if my foot tasted well. not swell, but well....

I mentioned to him that he was using incorrect grammar. I said that he should have said, "Did your food taste good?" because the modifier was modifying the noun, food, not the verb, taste, and thus he needed to use the adjective -- good -- as opposed to the adverb -- well.

Now, if someone corrects my grammar, even if I think I am right, I suggest to them that I will have to check into it. Instead, he wanted to defend his case. "Well, I think it sounds right. And I'm going to keep saying it. And nobody but you has ever had a problem with it. I say it all the time."

And since I was experiencing back pain, and probably a little crabby about several things, I said something that really isn't very Minnesota nice. I said, "Well, they were probably just nice people and didn't want to correct you. But they may have walked away thinking you were a moron."

To which he mumbled something about not being a moron. And then the girl next to him, another waitress, said, "I don't think it is nice to call someone a moron." To which point I said, "I didn't say he was a moron. I didn't even say that I thought he was a moron. I simply said, that others might think he is a moron if he doesn't use correct grammar."

And his conclusion was, "Well, I don't care if it isn't correct. I'm going to say it anyway."

And that pretty much sums up what I think about a whole lot of people today. They basically walk around this world saying and doing stupid stuff and then they say things like, 'I don't care what people think. I'm going to do it anyway because I LIKE it."

The bottom line is that there are a whole lot of dumb people in this world and, even though I try to be as "Minnesota nice" as I can, sometimes I just gotta let someone have it. I suppose it was a bit cruel to take out all my frustrations on a poor kid who takes people's money at a local restaurant, but good grief, am I asking too much to have someone say, "Hmmm, maybe if the way I talk is COMPLETELY WRONG I should think about changing it?"

Nope, his food is going to taste well forever. Moron.

P.S. Now I'm having all these thoughts about how people are going to take this the wrong way and not see the humor in it and how I'm going to get negative blog comments if I'm too mean. Yikes. What a world we live in. People can commit horrible grammatical errors and continue to choose to do so but when I talk about them anonymously I feel guilty? Ugh.

13 comments:

Angela :-) said...

Well, I'm one of those who would have noticed but probably not said anything. Apparently, though, I should start saying something? Or they won't change on one person's say so?

Angela :-)

RAK said...

Actually, my food has highly skilled and knowledgeable taste buds. In fact, just last night my food went to a wine tasting where it tasted very well.

RAK said...

Now that I've gotten my snark out, let me also say that this poor kid really needs to learn that food tastes "good," not "well," or he isn't going to last too long in the food service industry. Just please G-d don't let him decide to become an elementary school teacher instead!

mainiac said...

I busted a gut laughing! Good for you to correct him and stand your ground! No snarky comments from me. :)

Mary said...

I love it! That kind of summed up my day too. I'm usually a smart aleck and would say something back like "WELL, I thought my food tasted good." They usually aren't bright enough to get what I'm doing, but I feel better. And isn't that what it's all about? ;-)

Cindy said...

Oh honey, you ain't mean at all...(couldn't resist)

momonamisson said...

I am really annoyed at a whole lot of people and a whole lot of situations, but I am going to take it all out on an innocent server at a restaurant we went to last night who asked me if my foot tasted well. not swell, but well....

LOL I just had to laugh is this a freudian slip?

Foot is that the other white meat?

I hope all can see the humor this is not a snark. :)

Claudia said...

That is hilarious that I made that mistake.

But you never know, my foot might taste swell...

Christian Jensby said...

Hi
I found this post when looking for a grammatical answer to a Danish exam question. The sentence, "The food tastes really well" was an error sentence in the 2006 nationwide exam which the students were supposed to correct and explain. Unfortunately they didn't give the correct answer. I will now show this hilarious thread to my students first thing in the morning. Knowing that native English speakers often mix things up grammatically might make my students feel better ;)
At the same time it would be fun to know whether this "poor kid" could pass a Danish English (as a second language) test?

Sarah Noah said...

Theoretical question. I know there are arguments existing that say "did your food taste well" is correct because well is actually being used as an adverb to describe taste instead of as an adjective to describe the noun (food). Obviously, if well were being used as an adjective in this sentence it would be incorrect. But theoretically, if the speaker was using well to describe taste instead of the food itself couldn't this sentence actually have grammatical value? Or are we discounting the word well from words that can be considered adverbs?

Unknown said...

"Taste" is another example of a verb that sometimes describes an action and sometimes describes a state of being. While it is possible for a person to "taste well"--that is, to use taste buds to perform the act of sampling something--food itself "tastes well" because it cannot perform the action of tasting anything. Thus, "good" is an adjective describing the food.

Unknown said...

who really cares - we all know what he meant - to which what difference does it really make if someone uses a incorrect word is the world going to blow up -lol dont listen to rap then if your a starched shit who beleieves your better than someone who supposedly uses incorrect grammer get over it if this bothers you then i can only imagine the horrors of being around someone like yourself -ps can you cast the stone

tucdan said...

I find the question about food's TASTE to be ridiculous. If the food was bad I would have let them know immediately. As a busboy and WAITER (not server) from the 60s I find the overall "long lost best buddy" demeanor of waiters and waitresses to be obtrusive and obnoxious. Clear the table and don't expect me to hand you my plate. Don't crouch down with your face at table level when taking my order. And, by the way, telling me your name is great, but if I have to ask for you by name you are not doing your job which should be that you or someone who knows that you are waiting on me is always available. If you are a SERVER you should be available to provide service.