Thursday, February 3, 2011

Vague Sentence

A vague sentence that i have heard recently was during work. I work at Hot Dog on a Stick so we have two kinds of hot dogs, one on a bun and one on a stick. Are menu is simple and easily read and understandable, but this lady came up to me while i was working one day and asked " You guys sell dogs here right?" and all i could say was "yes ma'am." I thought it was odd because the menu is right in front and are store is called Hot Dog on a Stick, so of course we sell hot dogs! She then asked " Can i have a hot dog and a lemonade." This question was vague because we have two types of hot dogs and several choices of lemonade. She did not give a vivid enough answer to what type of hot go, what size lemonade, or what flavor lemonade.  This made her sentence vague because she was unable to give a good description or a more vivid description of what she wanted.

2 comments:

  1. Although I do agree that it was a vague statement I can understand why she thought it was clear when she asked the question. When most people think of a hot dog they think of the hot dog on a bun and not on a stick so I can see how in her mind she was being very clear when asking for a hot dog. And also when most people ask for a lemonade they are implying the regular lemonade and not another type of lemonade. I think when she asked you for both those things she thought that she was being very clear even though in reality she was making things very confusing for you.

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  2. Haha I just had a frozen lemonade from Hot dog on a stick today and it was good. Besides that your story is pretty funny. I would love to see how she orders from a restaurant menu.
    I am assuming this was that lady's first time at Hot Dog on a Stick and I agree with "scmg", she probably figured a hot dog only came on a bun. But the more I think about it, I'm usually vague with a lot of what I say too, I just don't realize it. And sometimes I feel like the person I am talking to already knows what I am thinking. Another thing is the way I text. I usually send short texts which are sometimes vague and then misinterpreted.

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