Five most annoying greetings

Most annoying greetings of modern times
Greetings have emerged from Hi, Hello, Good morning, Good day, to different types of expressions used in modern days. Not sure if many of the modern greetings were there a few decades ago. Some of these are really annoying greetings. This post outlines some of the annoying greetings, I feel I should talk about. 🙂

What’s up

Really? What is up or down — is this even a question to ask? I really get pissed-off when someone greets me with What’s up. Did you mean, what is happening in my life? What aspects of my life do you really want to know? Are you a close friend of mine who may ask what is going on in my life? I get super annoyed if someone who is not a close friend or a family greets me with What’s up.
What's up --- what is the meaning of this greeting?

Haven’t seen you in a long time

Dude … Am I supposed to meet you periodically so that you don’t have to say this? The most annoying part of this is — it sounds like complaining. If it is a complain then, the person saying “Haven’t seen you in a long time” is guilty of the same crime. Why can’t we just avoid this sentence as a greeting and rather use it in a normal conversation?

Aww … Haven’t heard from you for a while

This is similar to — Haven’t seen you in a long time. Am I the one to call you regularly to pour my sweet voice into your ears, or you may call once in a while too? At least, I have called you now — rather than calling never or later. Why don’t you greet just by appreciating that? 🙂 Yes, I know what you are thinking. Relatives who are older than you generally assume that it the responsibility of the younger relatives to call them periodically.

By the way, although I am joking here in this post, everyone should make the time to call her/his older relatives from time to time. This is a way to pay the debt one owes to the older relatives for giving the younger a memorable childhood.

Annoying greeting: haven't heard from you in a while.

Can I help you with anything?

This is another annoying greeting when I am trying to explore in a store. Can’t it start with something else like — “Good morning. I am around and please do not hesitate to let me know if you have any question.” When a salesperson greets me with — Can I help you with anything today — I sometimes say — No, I am just browsing. I do not know in particular why I get annoyed with this greeting in a store. Probably because it sounds a bit push-selling kind.

Greetings!

It sounds like a royal joke. It looks fine in writing but when someone utters the word — Greetings — it sounds like the person is in a funny costume acting like a king’s or queen’s minister.

Greetings! itself is an annoying greeting.

Concluding remark: Let us know if you are annoyed at any of the greetings above, or if there are other greetings that make you uncomfortable.

This paragraph contains some affiliate links to Amazon. We will get an incentive from Amazon with NO extra cost from your wallet if you use the links to purchase anything. We drew some of the figures in this post using CrazyTalk Animator 3 Standard (Mac). The software has a Standard PC (Windows) version, as well as PRO Mac and PRO Windows versions.

Settle in El Paso team



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Comments

69 thoughts on “Five most annoying greetings

  1. I don’t mind any of these greetings. :kanye shrug:. I love What’s up but it is commonly used in my culture. I learned to not take greetings so literally. Culture and language go hand and hand and there are a lot of phrases that don’t make sense if you really think about it lol.

  2. Greetings like ” What’s up? It’s just like you’re trying to get the attention of someone but sometimes you need to temp check the person before asking that. If the person’s mood is not good, well, I don’t think you should say that because it may trigger a misunderstanding that leads to a fight. I do recommend saying that greetings if you feel that the person is happy or enthusiastic. at their levels.

  3. i’d say “Greetings” annoys me the most <3 haha
    i don't know why but it makes me feel like i'm talking to an alien!
    kinda like when someone says" may the force be with you"
    that was a good phrase until it was overused by my coworkers <3
    the "how may i help you" part is annoying as well. glad i never had anyone told me that haha <3
    otherwise i'd be like pissed in my head. kinda like how the operators talk to us <3

    1. Haha ? how can I help you— really sounds like an operator’s voice.

      Thank you for visiting and commenting. Best regards.

  4. Another excellent post Settle in El Paso! I just realized my greetings according to your blog is the exact words I utter everytime I greet someone. I feel guilty because when I am in a rush, I say always ” Hey!, What’s up? ”
    I don’t realize the impact of those words.

  5. Reading this article wakes me up. It’s very true anyway specially at department stores or malls their first greeting “Is there anything I can help you with” sometimes they even keep on following you. It’s annoying .

  6. For me if people gives you complement out of nowhere as a greeting and it doesn’t feel like sincere. I mean people has different personalities and ways of greetings so i think its just on me but somehow it is irritating. haha 🙂

  7. Haha! These are funny!
    I never really put any thought into greetings until now, and now that I think about it I can definitely relate. When I go to a big store , like Target, I love to browse around before actually getting what I went there for, and when I suddenly hear “Can I help you with anything” it makes me feel like I should be buying something at that moment and not just browsing, which ruins the mood, but then I get right back to it.
    “Good morning, I’m around” is definitely a better alternative.

    1. Haha … I agree. Greetings really do not come to much attention unless we focus on it.

      Thank you for visiting and commenting. Have a wonderful weekend ahead.

  8. Can I help you with anything? I like that part, ahahaha! That kind of greeting is very common for all of us. But sometimes its not appropriate in some places like restaurant. once you’re in and grabbed a chair someone will approach you and will ask ” Can I help you with anything?” Hey! why don’t you offer the menu to your customers instead of asking that way. Those people went inside to eat food not to sleep, they will order what they want so the proper process should be ” Good morning/afternoon/evening , please have a seat and just let me know if order is ready, Thank you!
    Well, I’m pretty much comfortable with that and hopefully food is very nice.lol

    1. Haha … people have different ways to greet. Many times we greet unconsciously. Probably, I should be more acceptable regarding the greetings. Nice example of the restaurant.

      Thank you for visiting and commenting.

  9. Haha sometimes greetings are said without evening thinking about it. Hey, hi, what’s up… Oh and a friend of mine gets quite annoyed when someone says to him “have a good one!” 😉 Funny post, my friend! Off to share it on social media now. Talk again soon!

    1. I think, your friend is a reasonable person. I also get annoyed when I am told “have a good one” (and I think I am reasonable). ?

      Thank you dear friend, for sharing the post on social media.

  10. The most annoying greeting to me is “Hey stranger.” A friend of mine who will not call me (long story) says this to me every time I call her. As for how’s it going? It’s my mom’s favorite line and I like it. As for what’s up? my usual comeback is “not much.” What’s up with you?

    1. Haha … “Hey stranger” from someone who does not call would be super annoying. Actually, with family and friends everything is fine, especially because we can talk about it with them.

      Thank you for visiting and commenting.

  11. I hate it when people say “What’s up?”. You just don’t know what to say especially when you don’t know the person that well. It’s weird because it’s now used as another way to say “Hey”. How do you even answer this type of greeting? Do you really answer about how you are feeling or do you just say “not much” and then ask how they are doing as well?

    1. “Not much” sounds like a good answer. 🙂 That will make the person who asked “What’s up” wonder and ask again “Are you alright?” (If the person cares at all)

      Have a wonderful rest of the week.

  12. Some greetings can be hilarious at the time. I mean it is always amusing when my friends use such type of greetings on me and all I always do is to crake a joke with the greetings at that moment. I would always prefer a normal good morning to saying hi to me in the morning. I mean I always don’t know how to respond to such.

  13. Out of those, the most annoying one for me is definitely the “What’s up?” – what exactly am I even suppose to answer to that? It’s just confusing to me because I am not sure if the person genuinely wants to know how I’m feeling or is just saying hello or…

    Another one that I dislike is “How’s it going?” because it sounds weird. How’s what going? My job? My life? My kids? plus the majority of the people that use these type of greetings don’t care about your answer. They just want to make some sort of contact to avoid being quiet and awkward.

    1. I have a similar feeling regarding “How’s it going?” I just answer “okay”. As you said, it is hard to figure out what this question is about. I prefer to avoid the question just by responding “okay”.

      That is probably it — people use “How’s it going?” to start a conversation.

      Thank you for visiting and commenting. Have a great day.

  14. Great post! Actually very funny to read.

    It all happens in everbody’s life…. I felt very annoyed when my relative once asked me ‘had dinner?’, when I just exit from the rest room.I felt very annoyed, at the same time nooded and left the place 🙂

  15. It’s unarguably true that some forms of greetings can be very annoying especially coming from people your barely know like you pointed out in the post.

    What’s up is so common that I’ve kind of gotten used too, but greetings and can I help you with something is the most annoying form of greetings for me, one I don’t think I can get use too.

    This might come through like a joke but am dead serious. “well done” is also used in my country to greet people. It pisses me off so often that i don’t respond whenever someone makes contact with me and says well done.

    1. This is very interesting. I did not know about the “well done” greeting. Thank you for sharing. have a wonderful day.

      1. Yes. It’s really funny how people substitute traditional way of greeting for something like well done. It just makes laugh everytime I hear such.

        “well done Admin”?

  16. Wazzaaaap?! or what’s up?! “not down” 🙂

    I don’t like that question or greeting especially when someone I know very much asks me that. I would answer it in a sarcastic way or tell them straight “I don’t like your question” or “ask me in a proper way” 🙂 I’m conversationalist so, asking me in a presumptuous way can definitely bore me. Just simply “Hi” or “How are you?” is enough. 🙂

    1. Definitely … Hi, Hello, and How are you are very specific and easy to answer.

      Thank you for visiting and commenting. Have a wonderful day.

  17. If someone says what’s up, I usually respond with “the sky, stars, sun, moon…”. No greeting really bothers me. I’m just glad someone said hello no matter how they said it 🙂

    1. That is very kind of you. A greeting is always be appreciated. I feel helpless only when the greeting has an angle or agenda.

      I appreciate your visit and the wonderful comment. Have a great tomorrow.

  18. When people ask me what’s up I usually say the ceiling or the sky or whatever is above my head. It’s sort of like… “What are you up to?”

    1. Aha … that is an excellent answer to what’s up. ? What are you up to — makes sense though.

      Thank you for visiting and commenting. Have a wonderful evening.

    2. Lol. I use to do the same because I found it annoying and invasive, but over time I’ve gotten use to it. When someone says what’s up, I simply reply with proper greetings which unnerves them and make them conscious the next time we meet

  19. What I hate the most in those greetings is How can I help you? especially in store while you are actually still in the midst of deciding. Why not instead of the regular Good Morning/Good Evening greetings. I understand that these greeting may have been an old practice or just got it from someone you think is cool. But these greetings often destroys my entire day that I would rather stay home than to keep on hearing the same regular greetings everyday.

    1. How can I help you — kind of greetings in stores annoy us especially when the person is a bit pushy. I would like to spend an extra ten dollars to avoid speaking with a pushy sales people. 🙂 I completely understand what you are referring to. Thank you for visiting and commenting.

      1. LOL! It’s like try this one or take this one. I don’t need your assistance or advise. I need a much better space to choose and if it requires me to transfer to another area just because of the annoying sales people I would. Really love your topics it sometimes makes me wonder how you come up with something to discuss? Even the smallest things we barely take for granted but is actually true in most situations.

    2. I’m a volunteer in a gift shop. I often ask people to let me know if I can help them. That’s why I’m there. I know where things are. I will walk out of a store if I am not acknowledged by a salesperson. I don’t want someone to be pushy, but I would like to be acknowledged when I walk in a store.

      1. That makes perfect sense. When I was pregnant with Dear Son, a furniture salesperson told me — just buy this from here because you should visit too many stores in this stage of pregnancy. That is what I consider pushy. Obviously, I bought the same furniture from another store, where the salesperson talked less and gave us the privacy to walk around.

        It is very kind of you to volunteer in a gift shop. Yes, definitely that level of help to find commodities is helpful. Thank you for visiting and commenting.

  20. I guess I am pretty tolerant when it comes to being greeted, but most people who acknowledge me seem to do it rather civilly.

    1. I accept any kind of greetings too. However, I cannot find immediate responses to greetings like “What’s up” and “Greetings”. 🙂 Thank you so much for visiting. Have a wonderful afternoon.

  21. My favourite greeting is the Vulcan salute followed by “Live long and prosper”.
    The most annoying greeting to me is “May the Force be With You”.

    1. I feel the same way regarding May the Force be With You. I don’t know why though. Thank you for visiting and commenting.

    2. Lol! Vulcan salute just like star wars. That is funny but it makes you think what is wrong with this guy is he serious? or just simply joking around?

    3. I’m not sure what I would do if someone came up to me and used “May the Force be With You” as a greeting. I would definitely find it annoying especially if someone did it every time they saw me. Fortunately for me, I don’t know anyone that would be as annoying as this to say such a greeting and hopefully may that luck continue lol.

    4. I feel awkward when someone or anyone utters this words to me. I feel violated as exaggeration of my expression. I’ve watched every Star Wars as far as I know, and I don’t like to experience it in real life. Movie salutes and greetings should stay in movies and never to be used in real life. Hehe. Thanks for this reply guys.

  22. Since I am heavy I love Norm’s response from Cheers.
    “Norm, what’s shaking?”
    “All four cheeks and a couple of chins!”

    Have a great day.

    1. HAHAHAHAHA! That is golden!!! I love that response. I definitely had to use it in the future. So Clever! Maybe I can incorporate my stomach in that response too! lol

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