Are You Kidding Me?

I notice subtle changes in language, and slang, that other people don’t really pay attention to. One that perplexed me was the common reality TV trash saying of “are you kidding me”. It sounded like something new, but I know we’ve been saying that since the 1980s, and probably earlier. I figured that maybe I’m just not as observant as I thought, and it was just a miscalculation, but it’s not time to give up faith in my observations, because I figured this one out.

The difference with the new way to say “are you kidding me”, and the classic way that I am familiar with, is in announced punctuation. The original would go as, “Are you kidding me?”, but the new way is stated as “Are you kidding me!”. It’s just simply not a question anymore, it is a statement. It first changed with the characters on the reality shows, but of course it quickly rubbed off on the viewers.

It doesn’t make me a hater of my whole species just because I hate the reality television underworld. It is a select few controlling that underworld that then controls the viewers. I don’t hate the fans, I hate the creators. It is them that change my world without my consent.