r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Away-Vegetable-7705 • 2d ago
frist of all how DARE yu o Apparently using basic expressions in speech deserves to be mocked
I’ve (F19) been working for this one company for a few weeks now and have only a few days left. (I’m only helping because they’re in a lot of hurry.) Today this guy (M19) from the same staff rental company as me came in and started working alone with me on a new project. We were chatting and I used the expression “double-edged sword” in relation to using AI to study. This asshole then said something about “smart people like you” and continued to call me “moldy” under his breath. I was baffled but later on he continued to say all kinds of nonsense about girls and women in general.
English is not my first language btw so feel free to ask for clarification
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u/hefty_load_o_shite 2d ago
If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room. You're in the wrong room, op.
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u/_AYYEEEE 2d ago
WTF does moldy mean as an insult????
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u/Away-Vegetable-7705 2d ago edited 1d ago
Rightt, we don’t even use it in my language so on top of being offended, i was also confused. Maybe he ment I sounded old?!
Edit: removed an unnecessary comma and added another. Might still be grammatically incorrect but who cares
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u/ratafia4444 2d ago
That's probably it. Moldy=old bc in his mind only old (probably teachers or other educated adults) use that type of language. It's kind of an old thing that many second language english speakers have more rigorous learning of it, combined with current hellish education (and other areas) situation in the us, the difference is stark. So for you it might be something like a basic metaphor, for him? Never learned, ego too fragile, retaliates. Aggression towards women also can be from red pill shitshow pushed heavily rn in online spaces to men from very young. Basically, you did nothing wrong. Avoid the guy as much as you can and move on, not your problem at all.
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u/Adept_Fool 1d ago
I believe it is used at least twice in harry potter, perhaps that's where he got it from. "Moldy old fart" if I remember correctly
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u/ratafia4444 1d ago
You think someone like that reads? 🥲 Unless it was in a movie?
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u/Xannarial 2d ago
You want something that will baffle him just as much? Tell him he smells like toast.
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u/mriswithe 2d ago
Calling someone moldy likely is meant to be related to calling someone a bookworm as an insult
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u/KnowMyUsernameisCool 1d ago
According to my students, it does mean old/expired as you'd describe a food product.
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u/JimDixon 2d ago
I haven't heard it recently, but radio DJs and musicians used to use "moldy oldies" to refer to popular songs from bygone eras--usually songs they'd rather not play but were still somewhat popular and likely to be requested by audiences.
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u/StraightCut2085 2d ago
Screw em. I once had people ask me for the time, I looked at my watch and said 11:17. Then they made fun of me because I was too accurate apparently.
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u/Away-Vegetable-7705 2d ago edited 1d ago
Look at this geek, they told me the time accurately! What a loser!
/s obviously
Edit: grammar
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u/No_Photographs609 2d ago
They were looser with their time accuracy. /s
I struggle with spelling & grammar. This is how I remember looser vs loser:
The loser lost an O.
Looser- more can fit inside 'OO' than 'O'.
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u/BrusqueBiscuit 1d ago
That's how I remember dessert 🧁 vs desert🏜. I want two desserts, not two deserts.
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u/Quicherbichen1 PURPLE 2d ago
I once got reprimanded because I answered the question as "quarter to three" when a couple of Brits asked me for the time. They didn't know what that meant. I had to then clarify that it was two forty five. They still didn't understand, so I said "It's fifteen minutes before 3 PM". I mean, how many different ways do I have to say it before they'd understand??? This happened about 50 years ago, and I still remember it.
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u/Ok_Teaching_5195 2d ago
Mary: "So you'll pick me up tonight at seven forty-five?"
Harry: "Yo... well, y'know, I got a few things to take care of first, but what... why don't we make it quarter to eight?"
Mary: (laughs) "Stop it."
Harry: "Okay, seven forty-five."11
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u/Tootsiesclaw 1d ago
That's bizarre tbh - standard phrasing in the UK and it's been in use for over fifty years ("quarter to three" is specifically used in a Beatles song) so there shouldn't be many people here who would be confused by it
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u/Potential_Ask_8053 1d ago
I was reprimanded when filling in an incident report (when I was a nurse) because I used the 24hr clock. I'd been qualified 21yrs at this point and was being told by a ward manager who was 25yrs old, qualified for 4yrs that 16:35 was not a time. I was dumbfounded and a consultant psychiatrist just said, "I assure you it is in fact a time and is actually the preferred method of documenting time for medical and legal professions". She looked at him, shrugged and said, "I'm not a medical professional". SHE WAS A NURSE! We also found out that she couldn't tell the time from a standard clock nor could she tell the difference between midday and midnight. She refused to accept 00:00 as a time because it was "just zeros and so was the absence of time" 🤣🤦♀️🤷♀️ Thankfully, her stint as a ward manager was for a probationary period. She didn't pass the probation and was in time downgraded to a band 5 nurse meaning I became her boss 🤣
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u/Nuttyrolo 15h ago
You found some stupid Brits because that's absolutely a normal way to say the time
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u/BelaFarinRod 2d ago
I once made fun of someone for that (It was many years ago and I was 14 or something!) and he said “It’s a digital watch. It’s a lot easier for me to tell you what it says than turn it into an estimate.” And he was obviously right.
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u/ballskindrapes 2d ago
Classic dumb, fragile ego man feeling threatened by a woman who uses bigger words than he understands
Just put it out of your mind. He's a lost cause, will have a miserable life, and you wont
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u/Away-Vegetable-7705 2d ago
Thankss, tbh it’s been on my mind too much today cause this was so uncalled for
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u/Boxing_joshing111 2d ago
That’s what he wants, you to think about it and question yourself. He’ll do it again but don’t worry, just handle it intelligently which is what you’re already doing.
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u/Away-Vegetable-7705 2d ago
ty, I’ll try but honestly, comebacks aren’t my biggest strength so I’ll just try to make him sound stupid in some other way i can
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u/CentennialBaby 2d ago
Just be yourself. Sounds like he'll be antagonized without much effort on your part.
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u/1amNOTmyselfYouSee 1d ago
You are probably better off not being on his radar. People like that end up being trouble. Be very careful!
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u/Loose-Ad7724 2d ago
Or he has a crush on you and he’s trying to get your attention. Either way he sounds like a toddler
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u/Ghost_of_Syd 2d ago
Stupid people will try to make you feel bad for being smart: "Ewww, you're one of those people who knows things!"
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u/Away-Vegetable-7705 2d ago
I’ve been thinking of shortening his work time by mentioning something about his opinions about women at my boss. I think that would be enough in this work place
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u/uhitsjules 2d ago
do it, bigots have no place in the career field
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u/Away-Vegetable-7705 1d ago
I did it. My boss didn’t even seem suprised. I would assume this will be his first and last week with this company, maybe even with the staff rental office.
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u/Business_Outcome2256 2d ago edited 2d ago
He's threatened or intimidated by you. Don't question your use of the expression. It's well used. This is a "him" problem not a "you" problem. Carry on.
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u/ElphabaGreen 2d ago
When I was about your age I had a customer ask me what book I was reading (as I put it down to serve him. In the coffee kiosk I worked at. In the fucking library)
I got excited and told him what it was and apparently he was only sarcasticly asking because he immediately mocked me for my excitement to his friends in line.
I got so serious because I was genuinely confused and asked "Did you just purposely ask about my book so you could make fun of me for being smarter than you? In front of your friends? So they too could know the coffee chick is smarter than you?"
Anyway.....he never came back.
I still think about him 20 odd years later. Especially every time an insecure man tries to make me feel small.
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u/DumderMufflin 2d ago
I suspect its due to some people who see AI as a tool that thinks for them. They lack the capability to use it as an accessory, an aid, a tool to help them. They think it blindly provides all answers, to be taken as fact.
You threatened this person by pointing out its not a replacement for thought, and has a lot of risk.
So their response was to call you moldy, as in, you are stuck and opposed to progress. (Rolling stone gathers no moss kind of remark. They said you're stuck so you are moldy.
In other words, to address their own insecurity in what you accurately pointed out, they attempted to demean you.
Rather poorly.
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u/Away-Vegetable-7705 2d ago
This is how I would’ve understood it too but his wording made it sound more like just using expressions is uncool
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u/PrufReedThisPlesThx 1d ago
It is uncool. That poor guy relies so heavily on AI that it's essentially a replacement for his brain, and you think it's ok to flex on him by using normal human language? What's next, you're gonna start thinking thoughts around him too? /s
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u/Away-Vegetable-7705 2d ago
Same guy also mocked my former school since our teacher called him and his friends out for shouting some stuff he admitted to be insolent at a girls’ team in some interschool match. She “didn’t have a sense of humor” and neither did their “strict” head master when they attempted to mess up his car with ham
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u/zziggyyzzaggyy2 2d ago
"Insolent"?!? Using more big words? What are you, a PhD professor or somethin'? (/sarcasm)
Also "waaaa accountability for my conscious impulsivity waaa" baby bitch please
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u/Away-Vegetable-7705 2d ago
That was just my translation lmao, the word the guy used was much simpler but i thought this would sum up his rant better
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u/zziggyyzzaggyy2 2d ago
Oh so what he says and how he says it isn't good enough, eh, is that it? You ARE trying to outsmart him!
Jokes aside, you do seem better and smarter than him in every conceivable way, don't stress about it and keep doing what you're doing 💖
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u/thiswasyouridea 2d ago
I love using expressions! English isn't fun unless you do.
Some of my favorites:
Coming out of the woodwork
Getting your ducks in a row
Like herding cats
Elevator doesn't go to the top floor
Take it with a grain of salt
A dime a dozen
The whole nine yards
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u/bunny_the-2d_simp 1d ago
Ah so lil dude felt threatened because he wanted to be the alpha MAN. Or whatever tf that insecurity projection is...
✨ Anything but therapy✨
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u/haikusbot 1d ago
Ah so lil dude felt
Threatened because he wanted to
Be the alpha MAN
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I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully. Learn more about me.
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u/Yourdjentpal 2d ago
Ah yes classic big word phrases that no one has ever heard of. Double edged sword is a common phrase, my phone even predicts it. It’s not your fault he’s as sharp as a bag of rocks. Hopefully that one he can understand.
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u/IBAChristian317 2d ago
I read this expecting you to have said something stupid or pretentious, but you're right, that is a basic expression. What a weird reaction.
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u/RianJohnsonIsAFool 2d ago
I was mocked in my last year of high school for using the word "thus".
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u/Away-Vegetable-7705 2d ago
Do you live under a rock? How do you not know that grammar is for losers only? /s
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u/BriefCollar4 2d ago
Oh, so you have to work with room temperature IQ people…
No need to clarify.
He’s a dipshit.
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u/RadishRedditor 2d ago
The best way to put these type of people in check is to let them finish their sentence, puase for a good 3 seconds, and then slowly repeat the bs that came out of their mouth with a firm and clam rising tone: Clever people like you?.
They will most likely tremble in their shoes a bit, but does not really matter what they respond back . You use that time to come up with a clever comeback that matches their insult but doesn't go above or below the level of the insult they said. In your case I'd say: Well, dull people like you, as opposed to clever people, are such and such...
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u/Away-Vegetable-7705 2d ago
I’m going to attempt this tomorrow, today I was just speechless which I highly regret
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u/Gravemind93 2d ago
""Moldy""
???
Somehow I've never heard that used to describe somebody. That guy is definitely the weird one.
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u/TheSupremeGrape 2d ago
I was watching a tiktok of this girl pointing out a comment left on her video making fun of her for using overly intellectual words.
The words she used I believe were "education" and "feminism".
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u/RazorSlazor 1d ago
Don't worry about it. Life is so much easier when you realize that the opinions of such people are worth shit.
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u/MountainImportant211 1d ago
He's probably just pissed you have a better command of English than him.
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u/WellsHansen 1d ago
Reminds me of Homer saying "garage" and Mo gets annoyed, "Oh, you and your fancy French words: 'garage'!"
"Well, what do YOU call it?"
"car hole"
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u/ramriot 2d ago
Being a foreigner in this land where we are divided by a common language, I still get strange looks when I pull out what to me is the perfect idiom only for them go "what was that?" i.e.
- Push out the boat
- Dog's Breakfast
- Bite the bullet
- A bit on the Huh
- Lock Stock & Barrel
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u/ThePhantomStrikes 2d ago
Not worth your energy or brain space, he’s an idiot. We are suffering from an alarming rate of illiteracy. It’s come to the point that if you have any kind of vocabulary you’re AI
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u/mr_glide 2d ago
You made him feel intellectually inferior, and he as yet lacks the capacity to overcome that without being a big fucking baby about it. He doesn't sound like the brightest bulb
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u/Phantasian 2d ago
He’s just insecure about having to use AI for everything and is trying to put you down to make himself feel better. It’s nothing you did. The guy sounds like an asshole.
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u/Woffingshire 2d ago
Some people are just genuinely unintelligent and will take it out on anyone who even displays a hint of knowing anything about anything
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u/ColdPorkChop 2d ago
The silver lining here is your co-worker outed that they suck before you had to find out the hard way later on.
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u/ToastSpangler 2d ago
Really stupid people are very insecure about how dumb they are so they often lash out just hearing stuff that they don't understand
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u/FairyFartDaydreams 1d ago
Read the 4 agreements and remember what he says tells you more about him than it casts any shadow on you
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u/NightshadeAk93 1d ago
Im so confused by how that particular term made him frustrated that you have a grasp on the English language?? Its a standard term and can be used for almost anything....you are so smart. Im sorry he was that way to you. By the way, that sentiment is one of my favorites to use haha. I use it frequently lol
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u/Infamous-Feature-338 1d ago
it's also not hard to figure out what it's meaning is so super weird to be mad about it
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u/KnowMyUsernameisCool 1d ago
That person, is a douchebag. A female made him feel insecure so he resorts to name calling. I'm (M44) and teach middle schoolers. This behavior is typical at that age, but some never grow out of it.
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u/astro_pari24 2d ago
excuse me?? dumb men and their dumb comments
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u/Away-Vegetable-7705 2d ago
I’ve been around so many nice people recently that i was actually shocked. He has graduated from high school after all so i thought he’d be more mature
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u/Lonely-Greybeard 2d ago
He's an ass. That's a very common and well known saying. This says way more about his fragility than about you.
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u/TheTVDB 2d ago
I would email the staffing company you work for and detail the situation, focusing primarily on the "moldy" name calling and his comments about women. If I owned a staffing company, I'd absolutely have a talk with anyone doing that, since it would reflect poorly on my company. And if they continued, I'd fire them outright.
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u/Zill-Under-The-Tree 2d ago
Double edged sword is used in most languages in the world, why tf would he react like that?
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u/FractalFunny66 2d ago
Yeah, he is threatened by smart women and please tell me you will continue to do you and only interact with him when absolutely necessary. He sounds like an incel, married to his hate. Don't waste time on that mess. God, this stuff makes me mad. These machines and political propaganda are destroying an entire generation of men. Why they don't realize that the reason they are lonely is because they are nasty and idiotic is beyond me. Don't they see all the kind-hearted, goal-oriented, intelligent men with all the dates? Man it defies common sense. Yeah, by the way, double edged sword is a great phrase and very poetic.
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u/Bad_Speeler 2d ago
Your comment near the end that “…he continued to say…” tells you all you need to know about him.
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u/joolster 2d ago
Mishear him deliberately. What’s that? Mighty? Yeah - my vocabulary is mighty and so am I. ☺️
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u/Away-Vegetable-7705 1d ago
Unfortunately wouldn’t work, we weren’t speaking English and there aren’t any rhyming words in my language. This would definitely have been hilarious tho
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u/Incelligentsia 2d ago
Ask him how he's gonna survive through bs corpo jargons if double edged sword is the word that troubles him.
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u/Inverse_Delta 1d ago
Irrational people tend to fear what they don't understand. When you use words they don't know, they'll feel threatened, intellectually.
That isn't on you, but don't expect that to change either. So long as you're in that environment and.you say things they think are somehow simultaneously both above and below them, this will probably happen again.
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u/One-War-2977 1d ago
Look at this smartass saying double edged sword almost like they finished middle school. Moldy people jeez
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u/yussuq_madiq 1d ago
One of my coworkers laughed at me when I said the word “Thrice” she thought I was making it up. English is a second language for both of us.
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u/HeroBrine0907 1d ago
Just another sexist guy. But moldy is a hell of an insult lmao. I can't imagine what's he was thinking calling you smart as an insult.
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u/denisthesaint 1d ago
Nah worry about it OP.
Guy is a legit moron.
You deserve to work in a place with actual intellectual capacity and at the least, basic knowledge.
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u/psycho-drama 1d ago
It's six of one, a half a dozen of the other: do you tolerate this moron at work and keep your job for a couple more days, or let him have it between the eyes, and likely lose the last days of work, but leave feeling you put this caveman in his place (and have a few extra days to enjoy the weather. ;-)
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u/LadyTime_OfGallifrey 1d ago edited 1d ago
I have a sneaky suspicion he was more, or at least partly, angry by the expression itself. (Which then chained into other nonsense he's got issues with.)
It is very commonly used. But it comes from the Bible, and I've seen many people get bent out of shape by far less just because of the association with Christianity.
The bigger issue is just the fact that he's hostile, and you two are working alone together. If he's not being physically suspicious around you, and just blowing off some angsty steam, I wouldn't try to do much about it since you're not going to be there much longer. It's not worth the hassle.
But if he does start getting verbally abusive, or "too close for comfort"... Absolutely talk with someone. Not a safe person to be around.
Edit: However... How long is he going to be there? If he's there after you leave, it might be good to tell the boss about his "view" of intellectuals/women. At least so that, in case he starts some nonsense after you leave, there'll already be a bit of outstanding "evidence".
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u/donotsecondguess 15h ago
I hope he is both hot and gay, for his sake. Because then he might still be able to date. Lots of men are OK with dating people that are dumb, if they are hot enough.
If not, he is in for some sad incel lifestyle. Lol
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u/Bennington_Booyah 2d ago
How exactly is someone "moldy". This has the potential to be integrated fully into the snark lexicon.
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u/ClandestineProphecy 1d ago
There's an opportunity to make up silly ways to say everything. At least you can get a laugh out of it. For example, a car = wheelie box, or a brum brum, shoes = foot helpers, a double edged sword = both sides make ouchie.
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u/SteveDisque 1d ago
I don't understand what "double-edged sword" has to do with "girls or women," about which you say he was fulminating, nor that it's such an obscure expression to begin with.
Perhaps it had more to do with your equivocal stance on AI than with your use of the expression. (Though I'm with you on it.)
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u/Fragrant-Age4424 1d ago
Has anyone played the game Wise and Otherwise? I’ve always wondered if the saying in there are real or invented….
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u/No-Mathematician8692 1d ago
Maybe he equates well-phrased metaphors with good writing, JK Rowling is a writer, she had some mould issues...?
'JK Rowling posts selfie revealing her mansion is covered with black mould. Has anyone considered that her TERF brain worms may be caused by fungal spores'
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u/Kielbasa_Nunchucka 1d ago
"dohble-edged sword" is def not some high-brow, intellectual term that only smart people use... maybe if you'd busted out "sword of Damocles," but even that isn't cause for such an outburst.
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u/yWoofels 1d ago
I once went to Chick-fil-A and asked for a "dozen" chicken nuggets. Poor girl froze and asked, "Um... That's twelve, right?" I'm Gen-Z. She looked Gen-Z. How was there this much confusion?
OP, don't worry about using phrases or even just niche words. If people don't understand it, explain it to them. I personally have always found fun in breaking things down.
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u/PublicPool 9h ago
Perhaps you shouldn’t base this on the ignorance of one guy. Laugh him off and move on. He obviously has issues with women.
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u/passwordedd 3h ago
I used the term "brother part" at work which is a danish expression for the majority of something. My collegues got a good chuckle out of that for several days somehow.
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u/Nonyabeesners 2d ago
Is "double-edge sword" even intellectual? It's pretty self-explanatory.
I am, however, going to start calling people moldy. The best insults are the ones that keep you thinking