Snappy Comebacks For ‘Shut up’ At Workplace

Comebacks For Shut up

 Some best Comebacks For Shut up are Thanks, but I function better without unsolicited advice,I have the right to remain silent but not the ability

Here are some snappy comebacks for shutup

“Awww! Are you having a bad day?”

If a person has asked you to “shut up” and you say this, even though it is presumed to be sarcastic sometimes, the notion that you care about how his or her day has been is seemingly calming. 

“I will not be silenced!”

In some cases, this is a funny remark. In some cases, the person tends to smile or let out a sigh. In other cases, you are telling the person that he or she doesn’t have a right to force you to be quiet.

“If you don’t want to hear me, cover your ears.”

This advice tells the person that you are not done talking and all he or she can do is to not listen to what you are saying.

“That’s right, you can’t shut your mouth. How will all that hot air escape?”

You are simply making a joke about how hot their system is because they are fuming. So, you will take their advice but they can not do the same because their system is very hot.

“I’m sorry but I didn’t ask for a glass of your opinion”

This statement simply implies that you don’t intend on listening to what they have to say even when it is offensive.

“Why don’t you?”

You are only making that person realize that they can’t make you shut up if he or she can not adhere to that order.

“Make me.”

This statement can be friendly or daring depending on the situation. It can also be flirtatious when you say it to an opposite sex and it could make them laugh.

“I have the right to remain silent but not the ability.”

This is a funny assertion because you are trying to insert the regular statements the police make when they make arrests. You putting yourself in the criminal’s position makes it funny.

“Thanks, but I function better without unsolicited advice.”

This is also a hilarious one. You are trying to make defiance a disability and this is considered a joke. In other case, the person simply ignores you.

“Shut don’t go up.” 

You are jokingly informing the issuer of the remark that there has been an error in the statement. The word ‘shut’ always goes with ‘down’ and not ‘up’.

“Excuse me?”

You are indirectly asking the other person not to use that tone on you because you find it rather offensive.

“No”

No, is a negative statement but you have chosen to use it wisely to tell the other party that you don’t wish to be quiet.

“Why?”

You are asking the person to give you a reason why you should be quiet. When they don’t have an answer to that, they stay quiet.

Do you hear that? *Silence* That’s the sound of me not caring.

This tells the person that you are not interested in knowing how you about what they are saying.  

There are some other snappy comebacks that you can give in response to ‘shut up’ at the workplace. They are not encouraged for the working environment as they may be offensive thereby causing conflicts. 

“If I threw a stick, would you leave?”

Here, it is implied that you are referring to the other party as a dog who likes to play catch and fetch sticks. This is hilarious but be careful who you say this to? It might result in a very huge fight. 

  • “You’ve had your whole life to be a jerk, why don’t you take a break today?”
  • You are rudely calling the other person a jerk and name calling is a major prerequisite for fighting.
  • “Why? Is it because I’m saying things you’re not smart enough to understand?”

The implication gotten from this expression is that the other party is not smart and this is very offensive.

“I’m sorry, could you repeat that? I have a hard time listening to haters.”

You have shut them out already because you know them to be very troublesome. This statement automatically shuts them up since you are not about to listen to them anyways.

“I envy everyone you have not met.”

It seems like everyone in that organization has had an encounter with this person and nothing good ever comes out of their meetings. You just simply seize this opportunity to tell that person how you regret their presence there. 

The ability to manage your response to “shut up” at your place of work will present you either as a professional or  an amateur. This is why it is very important to exhibit emotional intelligence at the workplace. 

The social or geographical setting you find yourself determine your behavior around people. Usually, this is prompted by the laid down rules or the mental rules that guide your attitude in this places. By laid down rules, we will use the workplace as an example. On the other hand, when you find yourself in a social group or gathering, even though there are no laid down rules, you are still limited to certain behaviors towards the people you find yourself around. This is where the concept of emotional intelligence come to play. 

Emotional intelligence is the capability of individuals to recognize their own emotions and those of others, discern between different feelings and label them appropriately, use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior and manage and/or adjust emotions to adapt to environments or achieve one’s goals. Summarily, emotional intelligence is meant your relationship with other people in order to prevent problems. A good understanding of this keeps you in check of your actions and reactions. You don’t do certain things to people, not because you can’t do them, but it is not the smart decision to make at that time. Also, because other people’s actions towards you determines your reactions, you are advised to keep your emotions in check when reacting to them.

Proportionally, this brings up the issue of empathy. It is very important for us as human to have this attribute because this will save us a great deal. Having empathy means being able to place yourself in other people’s shoes in order to understand how they feel about certain situations and actions. When you have this at the back of your mind, an impressive amount of negativity is avoided in almost all situations. 

Certainly, it is not so easy to exhibit emotional intelligence as it is learnt by continuous practice. There are also some skills that make up emotional intelligence that you should take note of and build yourself on. Some of these skills are; self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, social skills and several others.

Self-awareness: 

An understanding of the kind of person you are is very important. This should expose you to your strengths and weaknesses as a social being. That is how you can know the limit to what your emotions can handle and then, you can subject yourself to personal training to boost your emotional intelligence.

Self-regulation:

After putting yourself through several emotional checks, you are able to mentally note the things that you should and should not react to as you relate to people. 

Motivation:

The fact that you can guide your thoughts and actions towards people gives you an edge over others and this serves as source of encouragement for you. 

Empathy:

You should learn to see yourself in other people’s situations so that you are not considered as selfish, wicked or rude as the case may present itself.

Social Skills:

The best skill you can develop within yourself is the skill that makes you live comfortably among people without problems. When a person utters rude remarks, you know what to say to them. When a person is sad or happy, you can comfortably talk to the person peacefully without issues arising. This is an essential skill in the working environment as it keeps people around you.

“Hey you! Shut up!”

Obviously, there are a thousand reactions that would follow such a remark from a person no matter the environment. “Shut up!” is an example of a sentence in the English language known as the imperative sentence. Given that in the English language, we have four different kinds of sentences which are; the declarative sentence (which is used to give information and assertions), the imperative sentence ( which is used to give commands or orders), the interrogative sentence (which is used to ask questions), and the exclamatory sentence( which is used to express shock or surprise). So, when you say “shut up!”, you are not only giving a command but an offensive one irrespective of the level of relationship you share with the person. 

In most cases, the reactions are negative so, when you decide to say it, you should expect whatever reaction that comes after it. The reactions given to offensive remarks are known informally, as comebacks. A comeback is a quick reply to a critical remark. The comebacks you give to remarks are usually determined by the setting you find yourself in. Some of these settings are; the workplace, the school, social gatherings and the social media. We will be looking at snappy comebacks for “shut up” at the workplace.

The Workplace:

The workplace is a place where people work, like the office or factory. When you are offered a job, you are provided with papers for you to peruse and sign before you are considered as a full employee of that organization. Among these, you find a document containing a list of rules that you have to follow if you want to remain employed there. These rules guide your relationship with the management and your colleagues as well. So, in order to avoid problems or negative experiences, you should employ your emotional intelligence at work. For our example, let us take a look at this scenario.

Comebacks For Shut up Scenarios

*A certain afternoon at the office.*

Ada: Shut up!
Kemi: Who are you telling to shut up?! You idiot! Don’t you ever use that language on me in your entire life!
Ada: How dare you make reference to my life? You good for nothing fool!
Kemi: Take that back you Cow! 
*A fight ensues between them*

In this dialogue, we are not shown how the argument got to this level but the first sentence by Ada and the response given by Kemi gives us a clue that a fight is about to take place. This is because the situation has not been handled properly by both parties. They have allowed their emotions get the best of them thereby, causing problems that would have been avoided in the first place. Let us look at another example.

Scenario 1

*At the office one afternoon*

Ada: Shut up!
Kemi: If you don’t want to hear me, please cover your ears.
Ada: *silently walks out*

Here, Ada has told Kemi to shut her mouth but Kemi chooses to ignore the negative remark and gives an advice instead making Ada leave instead of throwing insults like we were shown in the first example. 

Scenario 2

Here also is another scenario we should analyze; Kemi is being reprimanded by Mrs Bala, The General Manager, for coming late to work three times in a row this week. Instead of apologizing, Kemi blames the traffic again.

Mrs Bala:  Kemi, Shut up!
Kemi: *silence*
Mrs Bala: Don’t you dare use that excuse again! You are not the only one coming from that distance so, shut up!
Kemi: *silence again*

In this example, Kemi remains quiet even when her boss has repeatedly told her to shut up. This is not because she can’t speak but she realises that if she gives any response no matter how little, it would add more steam to the situation or even make her lose her job depending on how severe the case is. 

Unarguably, we can see that the comebacks we give to “shut up” at the workplace is variant on who has given the remark. There are certain ways to respond to this offensive order. Some of these ways are; ignoring the statement or laughing it off; shutting them up as well; Using sarcasm; calling them out .

Ignoring The Statement:

By ignoring the statement, you are not glorifying them by coming down to their level of interaction. This is usually the best comeback to give to critical remarks, although, it is usually very difficult to do so.

Let us take a look at this example.

*At the office one morning”
Stephen: shut up Ada! I was not referring to you.
Ada: *ignores Stephen* Kemi have you confirmed the payments list I placed on your table?
Stephen: *leaves the office*
Kemi: Yes, I have.

In this scene, Ada has probably responded to some Stephen had said and has been rudely asked by Stephen to be quiet. Ada doesn’t respond to this accepting that Stephen had nit addressed her at first so, she ignores his comment and continues with her work.

Shutting them up:

When a person says “shut up” and you do the same by shutting them up as well, you have considered the level of relationship you share with this person and so, you tell them to do the same. 

*At the office one afternoon”

Stephen: Shut up, Ada! I was not referring to you. 
Ada: You shut up!
Stephen: Are you referring to me?
Ada: Of course, I am referring to you. Who else is rude enough to ask me to shut my mouth?
Stephen: Ada, don’t you ever talk to me in this office again!
Ada: Oh please! That’s fine by me.

Here, Ada has responded to Stephen’s offensive remark by shutting him up as well and now, they are no longer on talking terms.

Use Sarcasm:

Using sarcasm is a very popular comeback because it not only shuts the other party up but it induces humour on other people listening. Here is an example;

 *At the office one afternoon”

Stephen: Shut up, Ada! I was not referring to you.
Ada: Awww, are you having a bad day?
Stephen: Please, let Ola respond to me.
Ada: Ok sorry, I thought you were  in a better mood.
Stephen: Ok I’m sorry for asking you to shut up. It was uncalled for.
Ada: Its ok. (Back to work)  Kemi, have you seen the payments list I placed on your table?

Calling Them Out: 

When a person tells you offensively to keep quiet, it becomes offensive. Because you don’t want a repeat of that, you simply call the person out on the rude act.

Another example; 

*At the office one afternoon*

Shephen: Shut up, Ada! I was not referring to you.
Ada: Stephen, there are other ways you would have expressed yourself but you choose to be rude to me. I take an exception to that. Please don’t use such language on me.
Stephen: Ok, I’m sorry.
Ada has not only expressed her displeasure in what Stephen said but has also ensured to let Stephen understand that she doesn’t welcome such behaviour.

Consequently, some benefits of exhibiting emotional intelligence at the workplace are as follows; 

  • Better team work

There are no negative vibes at work and you and your colleagues are in good terms. That way, you can work together to achieve organizational goals and objectives which is the primary aim of every workplace.

  • Better office environment

Knowing that there are no conflicts, the office environment is more serene and better inspirations are gotten and there is productivity. Looking at Ada and Stephen conversation under “calling them out”, you can easily say that Ada has managed the situation properly after calling Stephen out on his rude act. 

  • Adjustments can be made easily

When you have succeeded in managing your emotions, critical remarks like “shut up” is handled lightly and other important official adjustments are done easily.

  • More self awareness

When a person has made an offensive remark and you have handled the situation lightly, you are more aware that there are more important things you should pay attention to in your life than insults.

  • More self control 

Knowing that there are consequences for negative reactions, you are able to keep your emotions in check when communicating with people in your working environment.

  • More motivation from the management

Presentation yourself as a professional in managing situations at your workplace only qualifies you for bonus and high recommendations. 

  • Better professional relationships

Because you have managed your emotions properly with your colleagues and your bosses, they don’t let you go easily. Even when you are no longer in that organization, you get to keep them  either as mentors, business partners or professional referees.

  • You are able to shut conflicts down easily.

When a colleague has asked you to shut up and you manage to ignore the offensive remark by either given a note of warning, given an advice or have interestingly made a joke out of the situation, you have been able to avoid a conflict. 

  • Your empathetic skill is on the increase.

If you inculcate the habit of putting yourself in other people’s shoes to determine their reactions, your become more empathetic in your dealings with people. This is also an essential skill when dealing with clients at all levels. It guides how to help them and depicts you as a person who possesses impressive customer service skills.

  • Challenges you face are seen from a better perspective.

Your understanding of situations will give you an impressive angle of viewing challenges you face.

Although, it is often said that we should keep our emotions at home when we are about to go to our workplace, this should not be the case. We should rather embrace emotional intelligence situations. Help people when required. Know when to talk to a person when they are sad and when to leave them alone. 

In conclusion, emotional intelligence gives you an edge over other people because it stands you out as a smart employee or employer. Based on the principles guiding the workplace, there should be measures put in place for hiring people in an organization. The yardsticks for employing people should be; skill, work ethic and emotional intelligence as these features make up a successful professional. 

Snappy Comebacks For ‘Shut up’ At Workplace

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