 J. Broad wrote that the phrase " have a nice day " is an apt middle ground for the " drop dead " the cashier is thinking and the " come back soon " the owner wants . Broad stated that the phrase is meaningless because it has been castrated by excessive usage and pretense . He compared the phrase to the salutation " How are you ? " and the phrase " had a lovely time " , which are " conversational space @-@ fillers " that help prevent embarrassing silences . Usage of the term has been compared to inserting the phrase " you know " or the word " like " in sentences . In 1982 , comedian George Carlin joked at Carnegie Hall , " That 's the trouble with ' Have a nice day ' ; it puts all the pressure on you . Now you 've got to go out and somehow manage to have a good time , all because of some loose @-@ lipped cashier . ' Have a nice day ... ' Maybe I don 't feel like having a nice day . Maybe , just maybe , I 've had 116 nice days in a row and I 'm ready , by God , for a crappy day . " 
