Response “I’m Good”

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, my name is David, and I’m calling from Underhill, Vermont.

Hi, David. Welcome. What’s going on?

Have you ever been obsessed with a figure of speech?

Oh, I guess you have.

Occasionally?

Yes.

Multiple times a week.

I have a number of jobs, and one of them is waiting tables, and I had started to notice that when I would ask someone, would you like some more coffee, would you like some more wine, instead of saying, no, thank you, they would say, no, I’m good.

Once I became obsessed with this figure of speech, I’ve noticed it everywhere.

Do you want to come over tonight and play some video?

No, I’m good.

Everybody says it all the time.

I can’t, well, maybe not everybody.

I can’t remember if I ever heard it when I was a child.

So I’m wondering, when did it start and how did it start?

When and how? Those are big questions.

They are.

So here’s what’s happening. You are waiting tables. The food has been delivered. You’re checking in midway through the meal to see if they need more bread or water, that sort of thing.

And they’re like, no, no, I’m good. And that seems new to you.

Usually it’s not. There’s no, no, no.

Oh, okay.

I mean, generally it’s no. You expect to hear no thank you or something like that.

But people just say, I’m good.

Yep. I did that yesterday at the coffee shop.

And that means that they’re satisfied.

Everything’s hunky-dory.

It means you don’t want anything else.

I’m satisfied.

That basically means no thank you.

Okay.

And you sound just a little annoyed by this.

Not annoyed, but I became a little obsessed with it.

It’s true.

And started noticing it being used not just in service context, but in all sorts of contexts.

It seems to have replaced no thank you.

Sounds like something that would be hard to pinpoint.

It certainly is very difficult to pinpoint a resurgence of that.

Yeah, and I would also think that it’s probably older than we think.

Oh, yes, that is for sure.

And here’s the info, Bob. It’s that particular use of good to mean that you are satisfied or you were in a, when you’re not talking about your health, but you were talking about your general state of being, and you use good, goes back hundreds of years.

Oh?

Yeah, about 800 years, actually.

And that surprises a lot of people because it seems so contemporary to say, I’m good when you mean everything about me does not need any further addition or help.

You’re kind of saying, I’m satisfactory.

You’re not saying I’m well because that means I’m healthy or other things.

You’re saying I’m good meaning my situation right now is as I want it to be.

I guess to me it sounds, dare I say it, a little rude.

Oh, really?

So what you would like is, no, thank you, sir. Everything is fine.

Sometimes when I was waiting tables, I would make fun of my customers, which is actually a good idea.

And how are your tips?

They go up.

Oh, I see.

They like a little banter with their meal.

Exactly.

And the customer will say, would you like some more wine?

No, I’m good.

And I would say, well, I know you’re good. I just wanted to know whether you wanted some more wine.

Oh, do you say that?

I have.

Oh, and your tips actually go up, really?

It’s a long story, but my wife and I met at a restaurant.

Oh, well.

And we did some pretty crazy things.

And one of them was we did a little survey of our own.

We were either nice or not.

And indeed, if you keep a little edge to it, your tips go up.

Really?

Well, that’s like the classic short story. Who wrote that? Was that a Shirley Jackson story about the old couple where each day they alternate, the man goes out and he’s mean and rude to people all day, and the woman goes out and she’s kind and helpful, and then the next day they switch, and that’s how they keep their lives interesting.

I wouldn’t publish my survey quite yet.

I wouldn’t want to cause the demise of waiters and waitresses all over this great country of ours.

Well, there’s no getting away from the fact that I’m good is something that we hear often when you ask somebody about their general condition, and that’s a thing.

And there’s no getting away from the fact that some people are kind of peevish about that, and they think something else should be said.

Either it should be something far more polite, or it should be I’m well.

I’m of the stance that I’m well is fine there, but I’m good is also just fine.

And we have a long history of I’m good in that situation, serving the job of explaining to somebody that nothing further is required.

And it’s not a particular, there’s nothing ungrammatical about it because good has many meanings and many parts of speech.

It could be in this particular case, it could be described as a kind of adverb working along with the verb to be and just doing the job there.

That said, I’m always for a little more politeness in the world, and perhaps people should work on the thing that they want to say when the waiter comes by at the table.

Just a couple of extra words to acknowledge this fellow human being and their need for affirmation that their job is well done.

To me, there’s a personal connection when you’re doing that.

And it’s nice to be acknowledged, but it’s also nice to have your question answered directly.

When your blood pressure is high, give us a call again, all right?

All right.

Thank you, sir.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

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