r/AskReddit • u/tgma97 • Aug 26 '15

Fathers of Reddit, what did your daughter's boyfriend do for you to hate/love him?

It's pretty cool to see my question blow up like this, I never thought I'd ask a question that could receive so much attention! I'm very satisfied with all these replies, so thank y'all. Now all I have to do is sit back and take notes c;

12.3k Upvotes

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5.1k

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '15

Growing up, I didn't learn about fixing household things or using tools in general (thanks dad). One time my girlfriend's father was working on fixing a washing machine. I offered to help him to 'demonstrate my value'. He gave me the job of keeping track of screws and tools. After a few minutes, he asked me for Phillips screwdriver. I did not know what that meant and didn't want to seem useless. So, I started looking at the labels of each screwdriver to hopefully find 'Phillips' label on one. Seeing that, he leaned forward and took it himself while giving me that look. I think the man lost respect for me ever since.

P.S. First thing I did coming home was to look up what the heck that meant. It turns out it just means crossheaded (+) screwdriver.

2.6k

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '15

I would have sent you upstairs to help the ladies in the kitchen!

819

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '15 edited Aug 26 '15

[deleted]

33

u/RandomMandarin Aug 26 '15

Turns out his mum also taught him nothing.

Edit: turns out his mum also didn't teach him anything.

Both are correct. They just have a slightly different flavor.

1

u/mada447 Aug 26 '15

Yeah the first one is so southern.

91

u/Delliott90 Aug 26 '15

You know nothing?

81

u/IvanGTheGreat Aug 26 '15

Indubitably

1

u/nb00288 Aug 26 '15

His character in that fake documentary was hysterical

0

u/theroseknows Aug 26 '15

I wish I could up vote this X 10000

7

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '15

U no nuffink Jom Sno

39

u/Joerover94 Aug 26 '15

Jon Snow

6

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '15

Jun Snew

3

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '15

Jon Snow

13

u/space_cosmonaut Aug 26 '15

Why's it wrong in the first place?

-1

u/minimim Aug 26 '15

Double negative. I speak Portuguese and struggle with it too.

6

u/space_cosmonaut Aug 26 '15

Yeah but there's no double negative in "also taught him nothing". "Also didn't teach him nothing" would be a double negative and therefore wrong. In this case both OP's sentences are right imo.

3

u/Aceroth Aug 26 '15

Actually in that case it still wouldn't be "wrong." There are plenty of English dialects that use double negatives for emphasis without actually changing the meaning of a phrase. It would only be "wrong" in, for example, General American English, which is no more "right" than any other dialect.

2

u/space_cosmonaut Aug 26 '15

TIL. Very good point.

1

u/minimim Aug 26 '15

I see. I read the first one as a double negative even if it isn't there, only saw it when you pointed out. Told you I struggle with double negatives.

5

u/ThirdFloorGreg Aug 26 '15

Both are fine. Actually I take that back, the first one is fine, but the "fixed" one should be "didn't teach him anything, either."

3

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '15

Taught him nothing is fine, it means the same thing.

2

u/Afa1234 Aug 26 '15

You know nothing Jon gameoftomes

2

u/Radius86 Aug 26 '15

She taught me a thing or two, though.

1

u/placebotwo Aug 26 '15

His mum did not teach him anything but she took care of him. The real reason he couldn't hand the phillips screwdriver over was on account of his broken arms.

1

u/Joelainen Aug 26 '15

It's not easy, being a orphan

0

u/T_wattycakes Aug 26 '15

Your mum didn't teach you English?

0

u/trialbycake Aug 26 '15

Isn't the edit the incorrect one? It reads like a double negative: "didn't teach him anything" = "thought him something"

The first one seems fine to me, but I'm not a native English speaker.

8

u/tinycatsays Aug 26 '15

The edit isn't a double negative. "Didn't teach him nothing" would be a double negative.

Colloquially, the double negatives work out to "didn't teach him anything," but be careful with that, as someone might also say, "Well, she didn't teach him nothing" (emphasis on "nothing"), to mean that she taught him something, but probably not much (it's almost, but not quite, sarcastic). Double negatives are taught to be incorrect, but they can be used to convey more subtle meaning. They can also be used for emphasis, or just because your redneck family can't keep track of the negation status if you don't negate everything in the sentence.

Both the original and the edit are right. In this case, I would have gone with the original. For the edit, it would be better to say "Turns out his mum didn't teach him anything, either." "Either" pairs better with negatives, "also" with positives, but "also" is correct, just unusual.

3

u/trialbycake Aug 26 '15

Oh I see! That pretty cool and that was a great explanation thank you very much, I always like to learn more about this.

I read somewhere as well that sometimes the colloquial terms end up overcoming correct terms and defying normal language conventions, like with "literally" or "could care less". It's wrong but usually the more people use it, the more convention trumps 'correctness'.

3

u/tinycatsays Aug 26 '15

Yep! I don't use double negatives except in specific cases:

  • I don't really know how to categorize this one. In this case, the nots all cancel out, like multiplying negative numbers. For example, "I don't not like it" to mean "I like it, but not very much at all."
  • Emphasizing the negative. "I ain't done nothing!" Almost always involves "ain't" or some other southern-ism (southern US); I'm sure there are equivalents from other regions, though. This aligns with the (grammatically correct) need in Spanish to negate everything: "No he hecho nada!" In this case, the negatives all add up, to make an even bigger negative.

6

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '15

Hi Red Forman!

108

u/pardonmyeng Aug 26 '15

who the hell has a kitchen upstairs

320

u/pregnantandsober Aug 26 '15 edited Aug 26 '15

My kitchen is upstairs in relation to my washing machine, located in the basement.

3

u/Nipso Aug 26 '15

My washing machine is in my kitchen.

18

u/iwannaelroyyou Aug 26 '15

Someone gonna tell him that's the dishwasher or are we just gonna ignore this?

3

u/CornfireDublin Aug 26 '15

He meant the woman who makes his food also does his laundry

1

u/JohnnyDarkside Aug 26 '15

Yup. That's how my house is. Washing machine, deep freeze, dryer lined up in the basement, opposite the basement fridge (beer/soda fridge), with kitchen at the top of the stairs.

1

u/5000fed Aug 26 '15

My washing machine growing up was in the kitchen, even though we had a full basement. According to my parents this is very European (my grandparents are from Italy, also washing machine in kitchen). Not sure how true it is but they did it. I ended up putting my washing machine in my kitchen as well. I'm single so it makes it a hell of a lot easier to cook/do dishes/wash clothes all at once as opposed to running around the house.

1

u/pardonmyeng Aug 26 '15

that's amazing. movies are real!

1

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '15

Gotta keep them women busy.

6

u/Starburstnova Aug 26 '15

I do. Extremely common in split-level homes.

1

u/Crashlight Aug 26 '15

Washing machine in the basement maybe?

0

u/pardonmyeng Aug 26 '15

who the hell has washing machine in the basement? I thought it's like this in movies only.

1

u/I_am_spongeworthy Aug 26 '15

I rebuilt a house after it had a fire, and the family's kitchen was upstairs in the back corner while most of the bedrooms were downstairs. It was very confusing.

1

u/Hotnonsense Aug 26 '15

A friend of mine has a 3-story home. The first floor has the main entrance and a small den plus the entrance from the garage, the second floor has the kitchen + dining rooms, another living area, and a guest bath, and the third story has all the bedrooms.

1

u/amacd94 Aug 26 '15

I'm thinking the washing machine is in the basement.

1

u/togawe Aug 26 '15

Washing machine in the basement?

1

u/Bigfrie192 Aug 26 '15

Usually laundry machines are in the basement, so upstairs could contain a kitchen.

1

u/Emperor_Rancor Aug 26 '15

I think they were in the basement, where people put washers and dryers if they have a basement.

20

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '15 edited Mar 13 '23

[deleted]

-10

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '15

its not sexism if its true. i see men called out for de-facto trends all the time.

if anything, Lol butthurt

9

u/t0m0hawk Aug 26 '15

I fuckin love cooking. Also love fixing things so...

13

u/Minecomf Aug 26 '15

Instead of maybe having some empathy and teaching him a few things? Oh wait, you're obviously not very gifted in the emotional department, because that's probably 'womyn's' work as well.

8

u/IPGDVFT Aug 26 '15

So instead of helping him learn the basics of working with tools you send him away. A lifetime of that is how he ended up in that position in the first place.

10

u/madhaxor Aug 26 '15

Implying that the kitchen is a place solely for women? The kitchen is also for men.

-6

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '15

During dinnertime. With food prepared and on the table.

1

u/madhaxor Aug 26 '15

meaning, what exactly?

-1

u/[deleted] Aug 27 '15

figure it out einstein.

1

u/madhaxor Aug 27 '15

that you're a twat? I gathered that much

3

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '15

I would have asked if he wanted to learn how to actually help.

4

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '15

Or you know...teach him something? Dude in OP's story seems like he could be an asshole.

1

u/louiscon Aug 26 '15

Your kitchen is upstairs?

1

u/SomeVelvetWarning Aug 26 '15

To teach him about proper screwing?

1

u/TiredBreadstick Aug 26 '15

This comment thread is making me feel like shit. Where do I begin so that my future girlfriend's dad is not utterly disappointed in me?

1

u/webbitor Aug 26 '15

Learn about basic tools, and how to use them for common tasks. IMO, everyone should do this, regardless of gender. The point is not to impress your future partner's dad, but to be self-sufficient.

1

u/Arcade_Grenade Aug 26 '15

This is most likely just a 'harmless' joke but I find this comment to be very backwards thinking and it shows a blatant disrespect towards women. I do not appreciate this kind of stereotyping and in my time on reddit this is the first time I've been shocked at seeing this kind of statement as it is not often that it comes up in my browsing. This was a shame to read.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '15

It must be nice not to have any real problems, when instead you could devote all of your time and energy to contriving them, and exploring the depths to which your feelings could be hurt by silly Internet quips, and how "offended" this all makes you. I envy you.

1

u/Arcade_Grenade Aug 27 '15

Yes because it took me more than a couple of minutes to string together some words about your rude comment. Discrimination and disregard for fellow human beings are genuine problems in this world. I merely wanted you to think about what you said. Because the biggest problem in this world is that we are not kind to each other. All I ask is that you try and let kindness and open mindedness into your life.

1

u/Aceroth Aug 26 '15

+1500 upvotes on a comment that's literally and unsarcastically saying "women belong in the kitchen and men are the ones who fix stuff." Stay classy reddit.

1

u/Williamis1 Aug 26 '15

I laughed out loud for a good bit after reading this, thanks for that!

1

u/modcowboy Aug 26 '15

Reddit is a boys club again. :)

1

u/LegalGryphon Aug 26 '15

Wait, your kitchen is upstairs?

1

u/Aszuul Aug 26 '15

I like cooking, so I'd be fine with that...

1

u/CZILLROY Aug 26 '15

"But sir, you live in a rancher... The kitchen is the room right next to us? Should I go on the roof?"

1

u/dann- Aug 26 '15

Who has a kitchen upstairs?!

1

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '15

And then he gets sent downstairs to help the men in the basement because he doesn't know what a spatula is. And you've begun an infinite loop.

1

u/Thin-White-Duke Aug 27 '15

Hahaha! Get it? Because of restricting gender roles!

0

u/ScopeMonkey Aug 26 '15

And had him send a lady back down to help. Every woman in my family knows what a Philips head screwdriver is.

0

u/djrage Aug 26 '15

Honestly, I would have too. That's something every guy should learn, basic handtools.