Sure

“Sure” is officially one of my least favorite words.

At least one of its uses, that is. I have absolutely no problems with it when it’s used in the following context:

“Are you positive John’s going to show up to work tomorrow?”

“I am 100% sure.”

Or

“Are you sure that was Jenny with James?”

“Absolutely”

Using the word sure to mean ‘confident’ doesn’t aggravate me. But then there are these cases:

“Do you want to go out to dinner after work?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Or

“Is it okay if I bring Ellen along?”

“Sure, sure.”

To normal people, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the above sets of dialogue. But, they drive me absolutely mad. I’ve noticed this unnerving sensation a while ago and couldn’t put my fingers on the exact source of the problem. Then, last night, it hit me: I don’t like the non-committal undertone of the word. I think it’s ironic that even though the actual meaning of ‘sure’ is ‘certain’ which is a strong, absolute emotion, it’s often used in cases where one’s trying to say “it’s fine” or “I don’t mind” neither of which are confident phrases.

You might think I’m insane, and it might even be true, but I seem to be surrounded by people who are using ‘sure’ in that very context, continuously. Since I’m an opinionated person, one would think I’d like to be surrounded by people who are easygoing. Amazingly, that’s not the case. I like people who stand for something. Even something as stupid as what sort of movie to see or where to eat dinner. To me “sure, sure” sounds like someone who’s going along with what I say. Someone with no preferences or opinions of his own.

It just sounds so wishy-washy.

Or maybe I’ve gone mad.

I could tell you stories on how “interesting” is climbing up the charts, too, but I think I’ve said enough for today.

Previously? Living.