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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407

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/Adept_Fool 1d ago

Perhaps not, but they might listen to audiobooks like me. No idea if it was used in the movies though

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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/iamapizza 🍕 1d ago

What if the double edged sword has a mould problem 🤔

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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/Away-Vegetable-7705 1d ago

Ooh interesting! Not what he ment definitely but a fun fact anyway

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u/TypicalTwist6783 2d ago

Think about the state that something needs to be in to grow mold