Luna’s Adventures in English

I got another one.

What do you say when somebody is really not behaving well and you make that fact very clear, aren't particularly polite, but also not outright insulting, because you kind of already accepted it with resignation. There is a German expression which literally would translate itself as "You are impossible". Dictionaries appear to know this as an English idiom as well, but I really can't remember having heard or read this anywhere at all.

Similiar expressions in English in such contexts that I know are:
"You are dreadful"
"You are the worst"
"You are nuts/crazy/awful/horrible"
"You are a fool"
or twisting around in sacarsm "You're incredible".
Also "I don't believe you", "Are/were you serious?", "You don't mean to...", "Was that really necessary?"
Others that go off tangent a bit "I can't bear/stand you ----ing like that" and there is stuff that goes even more off tangent by calling the parents names.

The first four clearly call the person names. The fifth is more about sarcasm and the next four have a thethorical questioning tone. The last ones threatens to cut ties. Is there more with the above described nuance?
 
I think "You're impossible / you're incredible" are probably correct in terms of highlighting that someone's behaving badly without outright saying so, but they sound a bit upper class or old-fashioned today - You'd be unlikely to hear those outside of a dinner party on an episode of Poirot. I'd second Phobos' "grow up" as a more contemporary version.
Luna said:
"You are dreadful"
"You are the worst"
"You are nuts/crazy/awful/horrible"
"You are a fool"
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None of those really sound very natural ("you're the worst" maybe, but it's my impression that's a pretty distinctly American phrase, I've only ever heard it on US TV and films) it's either the polite disdain of the above or outright insulting like "stop being a d*ck". I'd say the main divide there is the class of the people involved. Middle-upper class people would probably try to be more diplomatic, whereas working class people would be more likely to just tell it like it is.
 
ayase said:
None of those really sound very natural ("you're the worst" maybe, but it's my impression that's a pretty distinctly American phrase, I've only ever heard it on US TV and films) it's either the polite disdain of the above or outright insulting like "stop being a d*ck". I'd say the main divide there is the class of the people involved. Middle-upper class people would probably try to be more diplomatic, whereas working class people would be more likely to just tell it like it is.
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I don’t know, I’ve heard “you’re dreadful” used a few times. Mainly when someone (not me for once) tells a joke that is inappropriate.
 
Phobos said:
I don’t know, I’ve heard “you’re dreadful” used a few times. Mainly when someone (not me for once) tells a joke that is inappropriate.
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See, I still can't quite imagine that one outside the context of some plummy voiced 1920s heiress saying "You're simply dreadful dahling!".

And "You are awful / terrible" sounds like dialogue from a bawdy 1960s comedy. Probably delivered by Kenneth Williams and prefixed with "Ooh".
 
ayase said:
See, I still can't quite imagine that one outside the context of some plummy voiced 1920s heiress saying "You're simply dreadful dahling!".

And "You are awful / terrible" sounds like dialogue from a bawdy 1960s comedy. Probably delivered by Kenneth Williams and prefixed with "Ooh".
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I totally get where you’re coming from, I don’t think it works that well. I think it comes back to what you mentioned earlier, the class divide.
 
I would definitely say "You're being impossible!" to a small child or someone who was acting like one, but I'm older than time. Telling someone they are "unbelievable!" has a similar meaning. More recently, telling someone that they or their behaviour has been "shocking" has become more popular. There's definitely a nuance of how high your position is, socially, compared to the person you're criticising, whether it's down to age or social class. I'd sound preposterous telling my mother that she was being impossible, even though I'm sure I have done exactly that on more than one occasion.

R
 
Been a while but I ot another thing popping up in my head.

Imagine somebody with a knife in order to slice whatever.
Now what is the result of the knife's work is called a "slice". And the act of using it is also "slice".
Saying "x is slicing y into very thin slices" sounds pretty weird.

What's nest to say about there?
"x is cutting y into thin slices"?
 
Luna said:
Been a while but I ot another thing popping up in my head.

Imagine somebody with a knife in order to slice whatever.
Now what is the result of the knife's work is called a "slice". And the act of using it is also "slice".
Saying "x is slicing y into very thin slices" sounds pretty weird.

What's nest to say about there?
"x is cutting y into thin slices"?
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You could just say X is slicing Y
 
You can carve something into slices? oo
I always though carving was putting in patterns (like fonts) into the thing carved onto.
 
X is cutting Y into thin slices
X has cut Y into thin slices
Also
X is chopping Y into thin slices
X has chopped Y into thin slices

(Edit: Chop is usually used when talking about food.)
 
serpantino said:
(Edit: Chop is usually used when talking about food.)
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Or wood! I think chopping is done with a larger blade, so a cleaver for food and axe for wood. Or you could use both as weapons to chop people up.
cartoon_comic_anime_anime_mirai_nikki_black_face_blood_crazy_future_diary_yuno_gasai_40729.jpg

All this talk reminds me of this song:
 
I always thought of "chopping" as the crude way of cutting something up with more force. Like, when precision isn't important, but how much destructive impact it has.
I wasn't aware, that it's about the type of things subjected to the cut rather than how it they are cut. oo
 
Luna said:
I always thought of "chopping" as the crude way of cutting something up with more force. Like, when precision isn't important, but how much destructive impact it has.
I wasn't aware, that it's about the type of things subjected to the cut rather than how it they are cut. oo
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I think chopping can be crude or precise. When chopping carrots for a meal I try to make them even.
 
Got another one~ Though this isn't so much about language than location.

If I watch/read something, where medical issues arise and people have to worry about getting the payment for it together, for e.g. like a surgery (some organ problems, or accident injuries or so). Can I assume, that the setting location is most likely/definitely/very likely not in the UK?

Don't really know much about the health system in the UK, but I think I've read an article about a comparison of health systems which was like: The UK has a standing budget financed by taxes which covers it more or less all, so medical care is free except for dentist stuff and medicine except certain kinds of medicine. In the US you pay all by yourself and because there is no standing budget everybody in the chain will try to extort as much money out of you as possible, which makes things terribly expensive. UK medical is, besides being covered for your, therefore also much cheaper. Is that true? It's been a while since I read that article, perhaps I am mixing this up with something else? ?_?
 
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