I'll do my best.

[abaris]

I never meant it as an empty phrase, but I guess some people don't see it as the "110%" they want to see.

That's about the only instances where I try to police my own language. Trying to avoid these catchphrases. I never ask anyone how he's been when I just meet them. Well, unless it's of real concern to me.

[Chad32]

Yeah, I mean if it's a friend of mine, or anyone who looks like crap that day, I'll ask out of genuine concern. Otherwise it's just a simple hi.

[robvalue]

I hate that also. I was given a bunch of work one time, and told it needed completing that day. I said I'd do my best. She said, "No, you won't do your best, you'll get it done."

I repeated that no, I'll do my best. I had to answer phones there as well, and we never knew how many calls we'd get. She got all pissy and kept insisting I will get it done.

She was a twat. It amounts to making you promise something you can't guarantee. I don't like doing that.

[Pyrrho]

When someone wants you to do something you haven't done before, the best, most honest thing you can say is "I'll do my best". Yet somehow some people see it with a negative connotation. They don't want to hear that you'll do your best. They want to hear you say you'll do it. As Master Yoda says "Either do, or do not. There is no try". When did this start? Why is "I'll do my best" not good enough for some people? Does anyone else find this odd? Annoying?

Many people don't want honesty.  They want results to magically occur.


Also, in this case, some people say "I'll do my best" when they mean "I won't get it done."  So how one will react to such a phrase is likely to be affected by one's past experiences with it.  And since different people have different experiences with people saying such things, they often feel differently about such phrases.

If my wife says, "I'll do my best," I know she means it and is not using it as a euphemism for "I won't get it done."  With other people, it depends on who it is and the context in which it is stated.


Also related to this are all those ideas about "the power of positive thinking."

[robvalue]

Right. They should have known me well enough by then to know I meant I will do my best, not I will slack off. I was a very hard worker, one of the hardest. She literally said to me that my best is not good enough. Weird, huh?

[Longhorn]

If I were honest, instead of 'I'll do my best' I'd say 'I'm going to forget about it until the last moment and then fuck it up, but I'll keep deceiving both of us it'll be different this time', but I'm not

[Iroscato]

"Your besht? Loshersh always whine about their besht. Winnersh get to fuck the Prom Queen."

[Salacious B. Crumb]

I hear, "I'll do my best" a lot. In my experience, it almost always has been a cop-out for the end result of something. You can't blame the person for doing a shitty job at something, because of the, "I did my best" excuse. It drives me nuts, but when I hear someone else say it, I give them the benefit of the doubt that they mean it. In that case, it doesn't bother me.

[Chad32]

"Your besht? Loshersh always whine about their besht. Winnersh get to fuck the Prom Queen."

I've been waiting for this quote. Took you guys long enough.

[Brian37]

I also hate it when you admit you can't do something, or say it would be better if someone else did it, they perceive you as lazy or weak.