I find it really, really weird how many people I know on Tumblr who introduce asides with “FYI:”
In the linguistic environment I grew up in, the phrase “for your information” was incredibly rude. It indicated that you were talking down to your interlocutor, whom you considered stupid and contemptible. Imagine if I said to you “For your education…” or “To cure your ignorance…” or something like that. This is basically what “FYI” sounds like in my ears.
I’ve never said it, and made a habit of avoiding people who used it in arguments. Anyone who said “for your information” while angry was probably not going to be pleasant to speak to while calm, either. I have never once heard that phrase said out loud in a tone other than smug mockery; and usually the speaker’s assholeness was a persistent personality trait.
But, presumably, it means something else in America, or something? Because, like, sometimes I’ll be speaking to someone, and they’ll say something like “FYI: I’ll be going to see Star Wars this evening” and I’ll be So Confused. I mean, why would they be calling me stupid to tell me they’re going to watch a movie? What???
I’ve found that things make much more sense when I mentally substitute “FYI” with “BTW” everywhere I see it. This leads me to believe that there is some fundamental difference of meaning here, so I don’t hold a grudge against Tumblr people who say it to me. However, it still takes me a second to get my knee-jerk “I need to slap this asshole” reaction under control.
So, Tumblr: Does “for your information” mean the same thing as “by the way” for you? Also, while it’s by no means required, could people who speak to me please try to avoid saying “FYI” while doing so? Even though S2 knows what’s going on, I still end up feeling like I’m under attack, and that’s no fun.
“For your information” is often rude, but not always. “FYI” seems to translate more into “just so you know.”
#i’ve never thought about this before #but it is weird that the acronym has kind of a different meaning than the phrase it stands for
Yeah, “eff-why-eye” seems to be diverging from its origin and becoming its own word. I occasionally encounter people spelling out the acronym in speech.
Tags:
#language #reply via reblog #rumour has it something similar happened with ‘OK’ #so I suppose there’s precedent
Brinens and Things 