fine whine

It has come to my attention that there are a lot of people using the phrase "No worries" these days, and this, I must admit, slightly troubles me.

After all, I am one of them. I began using it as a replacement for "No problem" or "Don't worry about it" or "That's okay, I really didn't want fries with that anyway" about two or three years ago, having finished reading Terry Pratchett's The Last Continent, the only Discworld book (so far) set almost entirely on the continent of FourEcks, which seems suspiciously similar to a land Down Under.

As such, the natives say funny things (to our American and British English-accustomed sensibilities) including the pervasive "No worries" which rolls off the tongue so much more cleanly than does, say, "Hakuna Matata".

Anyway, it is for that reason that I use the phrase. I really, really doubt that I started everybody else using it Up Over but still sometimes I wonder...