4 ms·

Justice Brandeis says a thing: https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2016/05/27/justice-louis-brandeis https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2016/05/27/justice-louis-bra...

drewcoo 5y ago
[flagged]
vxNsr 5y ago
Care to explain the relevance aside from this also being about a SCOTUS justice? Your description is exceeding vague, and I don’t have a ton of time to listen to a NPR story though from the description it seems like it’s just a general discussion about his life.
dQw4w9WgXcQ 5y ago
Off topic question but can anyone explain this baby/toddler talk "did a thing" / "said a thing" meme that is spreading lately? I hear it at work from some of my dev team and just curious if I'm missing some sarcastic/jokey reference every time it's being said.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- nerdponx 5y ago
  It's a rhetorical device. Babies wouldn't understand it. When used in earnest, it tends to sound breathless and dramatic, probably because that's how trashy journalists use it in headlines. It tends to be used as a kind of statement of passive resignation. It's deliberately the most colorless, blandest, simplest way to possibly express the idea that it expresses. Whereas you might otherwise say "well that's new" or "ugh, I forgot about X", you might say "that's a thing." It also seems to be somewhat of a recurring meme, I remember reading an article showing how this "a thing" phrase makes the rounds every couple of decades. I think there are some really ugly phrases out there now ("ask" as a noun instead of "request" or "task" is kind of nauseating). But lighten up a little bit, some people like to have fun when they speak. Think of it like absurdist humor, rather than baby talk. I know it's trendy in some circles to claim that adults have become infantilized or whatever, but I don't think that's what's happening here.

drewcoo 5y ago

[flagged]

vxNsr 5y ago

Care to explain the relevance aside from this also being about a SCOTUS justice? Your description is exceeding vague, and I don’t have a ton of time to listen to a NPR story though from the description it seems like it’s just a general discussion about his life.

dQw4w9WgXcQ 5y ago

Off topic question but can anyone explain this baby/toddler talk "did a thing" / "said a thing" meme that is spreading lately? I hear it at work from some of my dev team and just curious if I'm missing some sarcastic/jokey reference every time it's being said.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
nerdponx 5y ago
It's a rhetorical device. Babies wouldn't understand it. When used in earnest, it tends to sound breathless and dramatic, probably because that's how trashy journalists use it in headlines. It tends to be used as a kind of statement of passive resignation. It's deliberately the most colorless, blandest, simplest way to possibly express the idea that it expresses. Whereas you might otherwise say "well that's new" or "ugh, I forgot about X", you might say "that's a thing." It also seems to be somewhat of a recurring meme, I remember reading an article showing how this "a thing" phrase makes the rounds every couple of decades. I think there are some really ugly phrases out there now ("ask" as a noun instead of "request" or "task" is kind of nauseating). But lighten up a little bit, some people like to have fun when they speak. Think of it like absurdist humor, rather than baby talk. I know it's trendy in some circles to claim that adults have become infantilized or whatever, but I don't think that's what's happening here.