Adding "dot com" to the end of a sentence?

Question

Overheard this one while I was getting my hair cut. The two ladies were arguing about whether or not a given shampoo was appropriate for a customer that had just left. Something about the customer's existing skin condition and a previous perm and/or coloring. The lady doing my hair was worried that the suggested shampoo might be too strong (chemically) and irritate the customer's scalp.

What caught my attention though was that she'd say things like "It'll dry their hair out dot com." There were two or three other sentences she ended in a similar manner, but that's the only one I remember.

And I haven't the faintest idea what she meant by this. I'm aware of the idea that some websites have URLs that are phrases or sentences (ending in a .com, for example, example.com), what I don't understand is why she spoke like that. She wasn't trying to advertise a website, they were just pain, English statements of her opinion and there was always a slight pause before she added it.

Answer 1

According to Urban Dictionary, it’s for emphasis:

Used to add emphasis to the ending of a phrase. Usually spoken with a slight pause prior to it, and with a deeper voice than normal.

Lets go get some food--I'm fucking hungry dot com.

As I understand it, you would expect X.com to be all about X, more so than any other website. Thus you have emphasis.

It’s either that or just for lolz.

I think I found an example in the wild, with a full URL:

w w w dot i am really hungry dot com forward slash somebody make me food please

Here’s another:

head hurt dot com slash me

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Similar to this is using file extensions, something I’ve seen before but only online. Basically, instead of posting an actual image (or just saying words), people type a file name, such as “howdareyou.jpeg”. This is done even when the person isn’t thinking of a specific file. Like “dot com” this has more emphasis than just writing it as regular words.

Also similar is ™, seen for example even on Stack Exchange:

It's a piece of valuable flair™ you can place on any website to show off your combined Stack Exchange profiles
_Flair

The top bar of a Stack Exchange site has always been a bit of an odd place. It somehow combines user info, navigation, search, and a one-size-fits-all popup that includes hot network questions, a list of 100+ Stack Exchange sites, personal inbox messages, and other system notifications (lovingly referred to as The StackExchange™ MultiCollider SuperDropdown™).
_{Blog: A New Top Bar for Stack Exchange}

™ is used to emphasize that there is something special about the preceding word or phrase.

Answer 2

This is a slightly older equivalent of "hashtag x". E.g.

I'm going to the cafe to get a drink. #CaffeineKeepsMeAlive

(With the octothorpe (#) voiced as "hashtag")

Which came about as a tongue-in-cheek expression, after the website Twitter popularized using (written) hashtags at the end of short statements (as a tagging mechanism).

It simply mimics a widespread behavior seen online, in a joking way.

Potentially, the over-use of hashtags in corporate statements and advertising, may have also contributed to people using it in speech "ironically".

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The "Dot Com" expression is just the same from the early 2000s

During the dot-com bubble, 1994-2000, there had been a rush of companies created entirely online with relatively flimsy business plans. Many of these rushed to buy domains that explained their specific business niche - entirely - in the domain name.

Beyond this, in the early 2000s, there were also a number of prominent companies that emerged whose names were literally the domain name. Some of these companies advertised heavily, with adverts re-iterating their name constantly.

For example, "Confused.com", advertised heavily on slogans such as:

Don't be confused. Be Confused.com.

And, "WeBuyAnyCar.com", whose adverts constantly repeated the phrase:

We buy any car (dot com!)

Similar to the more recent (although now also dated) phenomenon of saying "hashtag" explicitly; people then started using this in a tongue-in-cheek way, during speech.

Also, as most of these adverts were very in-your-face. When people use this as a phrase - it also adds some emphasis to what they're saying.

Answer 3

From context and without any source or reference, it seems to me the person in question uses "dot com" for "period".

from MW - definition 5a(2)

• period - used interjectionally to emphasize the finality of the preceding statement. "I don't remember — period."