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South Korea flagHailey
Get creepy or get scared? Hi All I wonder if this makes sense in English. Situation : I was talking over my cellphone in a cafe. My friend poked me with her index finger and I gave a quick nod, sending a non-verbal message that I will finish the conversation soon. When I turned to her after the conversation had finished, she smiled a big smile. I smiled in response. When I was close to thinking she must be finally crazy because she had kept the exaggerated smile, she asked, still keeping the smile, "Do you have $30 on you?" I laughed because I realized what her smile had meant. After I took out $30 of my purse, I said, giving her the money, "I'm gonna get creepy whenever you smile like that." I don't see anything incorrect - I'm not sure if the last line's frequently said in spoken English. I took that one as it seemed to perfectly fit in the context. If 'in future' is added at the end of the last line or 'get scared' is used instead of 'get creepy', would it be weird? Thank you!@Denis : Thank you :) Honestly, it wasn't meant to be any request but a slight joke or sarcasm. She hasn't done it before, and if she smiles like that again, it will be highly likely to mean she's going to borrow me some money. That'll give me an alarm and I'll go far away from her. :) @fdmaxey : I've thought and this came to mind ; "I'd get creepy if you smile like that again" Thank you :) @Tony : Sorry, that doesn't seem to fit. But thank you. :)@In-young : Mmh... I've thought 'get creeped out' is a bit stronger here. And in this case - "I'm gonna" seems acceptable in SPOKEN English. I'll take the first, In-young ;) Thank you!@Mark : Nice one, woo!! Thank ya! :)

Answers · 5

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Hi Hailey^^ +1 fdmaxey is my 0.02. If you want something a little sarcastic or as a slight joke... you can also say "Ah, so is that only what that smile is good for?" (implying money).
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i think it would make more sense to say "I'm gonna get *creeped out* whenever you smile like that." OR "I'm gonna get *suspicious* whenever you smile like that"
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I would say "I get creeped out whenever you smile like that", but maybe that's not what you mean.
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Technically, the tenses match, but you would never hear it like that. "Whenever" implies something that could happen in th past, present or future: "I get creepy whenever you smile like that." If you want to use future tense, the subordinate clause would sound better like this - in this case, be conditional: "I'm gonna get creepy if you keep smiling like that." "Scared" carries a bit more impact than "creepy", but the in many situations, it would amount to the same thing.
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Hailey, "I'm gonna" is short for "I am going to" so it is already a prediction of what will happen in the future. I'm gonna get creepy whenever you smile like that." Sounds okay to me. If someone said that to me I would take it as a friendly request to please not do it again. Whenever meaning (every time) works here because it subtly indicates that not only will you get creepy in the future, but that you were also creeped out by what she has just done. Creepy or scared ? They both fit here. If you find her smiling distasteful as well as frightening, then creepy is better, in my opinion.

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