Internet much?!

July 8, 2009 1:41 PM

Does anyone else feel it's a little unusual for characters in a prime time show(Dexter) to use internet talk?

In the show "Dexter" I've noticed the characters saying "verb much ?!" a couple times through out the three seasons. First time it was Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) startled by someone and said "Sneak much?!" while the second time it was Dexter (Michael C. Hall) driving and stuck behind a slow vehicle saying "Drive much?!" I was always under the impression that this sort of talk is more of internet slang. Does anyone else find this a bit unusual? I can't really give a specific reason why but it just feels a little strange to me.

posted by jstarlee to Uptime at 1:41 PM (12 comments total)

You put this in "uptime"?

Puff, puff give...
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:43 PM on July 8, 2009

What the what?
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 1:43 PM on July 8, 2009

Close threads much?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:46 PM on July 8, 2009 [1 favorite]

DEXTER CANNOT BE UNDERSTOOD BY YOU
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:46 PM on July 8, 2009 [2 favorites]

Visit AskMe much? Hint: maybe you should.
posted by misha at 1:47 PM on July 8, 2009

DO NOT READ THE THIRD DEXTER BOOK! IT RUINS EVERYTHING!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:47 PM on July 8, 2009 [6 favorites]

This doesn't fit in here.

Well, this doesn't really belong in AskMe, either, becuase it's chatfilter.

Maybe MetaChat?
posted by Pronoiac at 1:47 PM on July 8, 2009

lolwut?

Did I miss the announcement of July's "Most Useless Metatalk Thread" contest?
posted by EatTheWeak at 1:48 PM on July 8, 2009 [1 favorite]

Sorry, that was an obvious mistake.

Is this thread not appropriate in metatalk?
posted by jstarlee at 1:48 PM on July 8, 2009

It predates ubiquitous consumer internet service; I'd peg it as more of a general pop-cultural slang thing than anything specifically Internet-centric (let alone, uh, Metafilter-centric). Buffy as a vector for general (and internet-friendly) dissemination of the usage, especially by writers of later television shows, feels about right to me.

And the OED even agrees, seems like:

3 B h. colloq. (orig. U.S., freq. ironic). With a preceding adjective, infinitive verb, or noun phrase, forming an elliptical comment or question.

The use was popularized by the film Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and the television series derived from it.

1988 D. WATERS Heathers (film script) 15 God Veronica, drool much? His name's Jason Dean. 1988 D. WATERS Heathers (film script) 86 Heather Duke. It was J.D.'s idea! He made out the signature sheet and everything. Now will you sign it. Veronica. (queasy) No. Heather Duke. Jealous much?
1992 J. WHEDON Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film script) 8 A stranger, walking the other way, bumps into Buffy, doesn't stop... Buffy. Excuse much! Not rude or anything.
1992 J. WHEDON Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film script) 25 Pike and Benny have entered the diner, quite drunk... Kimberly (to the other girls) Smell of booze much.
1998 M. BURGESS & R. GREEN Isabella in Sopranos (television shooting script) 1st Ser. 1 42 Anthony Jr. Probably I can't go to that dance now either. Meadow. God, self-involved much?
2001 Cosmopolitan Dec. 178 You've seen them: the kinds of couples who finish each other's sentences... Jealous much? Damn right.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:48 PM on July 8, 2009 [11 favorites]

Are you a sociologist?
posted by ND¢ at 1:48 PM on July 8, 2009 [1 favorite]

That said, yeah, there's really no reason for this to be in Metatalk since it's not site-related in the least.

If you cleaned it up as a straightforward request for info about the phrase rather than the kind of chatty thing you've got here, it might fly on AskMe but I'd say check with us first if you really want to go that route, we can sanity-check it for you.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:50 PM on July 8, 2009