What do you say when you thank people in shops/restaurants etc....if you do

I say "that's excellent, thanks" or "lovely, thanks a lot" or if I'm feeling a bit more loose "that's magnificent, thanks", though I still say it in the same voice all the time so it's pretty low key. Do you have consistent platitudes or do they change often? For me I reckon they have 2/3 year lifespans...

"Thank you" or "Thanks".

"Cheers now", mostly.

"thank you"

"great, thank you"

"thanks so much"

"cool, thanks"

"absolute cunt, don't touch me, thanks"

okay I am going to start saying that now

"cheers" or "thanks" usually. i will occasionally throw in a "super-duper" when i ask for/get something i'm not 100% expecting.

Mostly just "thank you" or "thanks," occasionally prefaced by "great, ..."

i dont have a special way of saying thanks but i always say "have a good one" its like a tic

When I went to Michigan/Chicaho/Madison I got approximately three thousand "mmm-hmmm" replies to my thank yous. So disturbing! Why does America hate saying "you're welcome"?

oh yeah max! "have a good one"

"be seeing you"

why does every fuckin comic book character say that

"i find you strangely alluring"

usually 'thanks', 'thank you!' (exclamation mark = uncharacteristically high pitched and affectful) if I really mean it. But I've been meaning to adopt nabisco's 'thanks, slut'.

thanks very much. have a good day / night!

'Ta' and 'Thanks Much' both make me want to kill.

aw "have a good one" u guys are my dad

i often say "thank you so much" which seems to freak people out. too intense.

i have a friend who is incapable of not being totally awkward when giving such thanks to attractive female waitresses/staff/store employees. it's usually some protracted lingering, partnered with a brief hopeful gaze, finishing off with a quick look down at the floor and a shuffling away.

i usually just say, "thanks" or "take it easy" or "see you next time" (if i know them)

i give a lil' wink usually

w/ maybe a 'thanks babe'

my husband and i like to see if we can get the toll collectors at the BB to speak, so he'll often do a really over-enthusiastic "THANKS SO MUCH" for a reaction. it rarely works.

When I went to Michigan/Chicaho/Madison I got approximately three thousand "mmm-hmmm" replies to my thank yous. So disturbing! Why does America hate saying "you're welcome"?

^^^this!!!^^^ - when i started traveling to the states more i noticed this. i will spare ilx by not bringing up the tipping implications...

thanks bye

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S9Ew3TIeVQ

i often say "thank you so much" which seems to freak people out. too intense.

― horseshoe, Wednesday, October 21, 2009 1:26 PM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

when i say thank you so much ari gets mad because she thinks its insincere

Just 'thank you' or 'thank you very much' - but I make sure I always say it to everyone who does anything worthy of thanks. I read that Tony Blair always interrupts conversations to thank waiters, etc. and it struck me as quite impressive behaviour - I mean, I probably thanked everyone anyway, but the article made me really conscious of how unimpressive not thanking people is. I bet Gordon Brown doesn't bother.

i guess i have something in common with Tony Blair after all!

When I went to Michigan/Chicaho/Madison I got approximately three thousand "mmm-hmmm" replies to my thank yous. So disturbing! Why does America hate saying "you're welcome"?

cause we're cool like that. in 10 years time, everyone will do as we do.

lol justine

thank you very much

'Ta' and 'Thanks Much' both make me want to kill.

― brotherlovesdub, Wednesday, October 21, 2009 6:26 PM Bookmark

I say "Ta"; which obviously makes me some sort of disgusting savage...

I am from the North of England, though. It's almost de rigeur up here...

I think "Ta" is some kind of affectation in the US or something. Unlike over here where yeah it's basic everyday communication.

I think "cheers" is moving from affectation to not in the US.

Am I right in thinking that affected "ta" in the US means "goodbye" btw?

I think "cheers" is moving from affectation to not in the US.

I still see it as an affectation, except in the context of a toast.

peace bro

"ta ta for now"

toodle-oo

if u cant find the words maybe just wink @ ppl its what i do

Last week when I was in the US, I flubbed a few times and said 'cheers'.

Weirdly, Urban Dictionary has a reasonable etymology

TA 471 up, 115 down love it hate it

A slang word for Thanks.

The word is a result of the heavy Danish influence on the English language. Most people do not realize that the English language roots are really Danish or Jutland. Equiped with this knowledge this word is easy to decipher.

The Danish word for Thanks is tak. In Scotland and upper England it was common to drop the k at the end because of the way words were pronounced during the time of old English and Middle English. Hence the slang word "Ta" which should actually be pronounced "TA-k" but over time became "Ta" is really Tak meaning "Thanks"

("Ta-ta" as in "goodbye" also reasonably common in England but sounds v. different depending on class/region of whoever's saying it.)

ta

I agree with those saying thanking is important, I really feel the constant need to thank people who do things for me or are working wherever. I hope it comes across as genuine esp in situations where someone is doing a really horrible job.

I came to hate 'ta' as an American bar tending in central London. Saachi and Saachi types (who worked down the street) were always saying it and increasingly made my blood boil. Is it that hard to just say 'thanks'? Thanks Much seems to be regional in the US since I don't ever recall hearing it in the South, but in the Northwest, it seems to be very common. 'Thanks much' is not a valid response. Thank you so much, thank you very much, thank you, thanks. All acceptable. Thanks much - not acceptable.

what are saachi and saachi types

plus, even if the co-worker is a few desks away, having documentation of professional buck-passing can be crucial.

if it's an ethnic i usually say "cheers boss"

haha surm you totally do not actually wish random people the best, though, except maybe in such a contingent way as to be totally meaningless. if the best operated on any kind of scarcity, you would probably wish yourself and your loved ones the best, and wish everyone else what's left over.

i wish random nice people the best that is possible for them in their lives :-)

thinking in terms of abundance, as opposed to scarcity, is one of the 7 habits of highly effective people

haha surely "thanks" is way LESS generic than "I guess if it's all the same I'd prefer your life to be pleasant"

I mean, I use "best" all the time, but if we want to get down to what things literally mean, "best" has no real literal content beyond "I do not actively wish you unhappiness or harm"

i don't guess! most often, i wish the people i deal with, who are generally very nice, the best for them. but i don't always feel thankful to them!

best is a generic sign off, sure. but yes, generally i mean it.

i think in that context, the literal content is "not an asshole"

now if it's a co-worker, best is most often too formal. in that case, just your name.

nabisco, i thoroughly enjoy my job in customer service. i get a lot of customers, and i like to think i'm usually pretty sincere! i mean ffs i started this thread Verizon Wireless customer service

I know, I know, I'm mostly just kidding around here -- I'm just saying that basically the verbal content of any of these things is basically "insert friendly closing gesture," so I don't know that differences in literal meaning are all that important

i agree w/surm, that a short email that already is thanking someone for something with "thanks" as the closing gesture is redundant and kinda annoying.

my boyfriend sometimes hears me on the phone and he's like who the eff are you talking to, and it's like hsbc

a short email that already is thanking someone for something with "thanks" as the closing gesture is redundant and kinda annoying

haha wait, who ever said otherwise?

but so part of the reason we can just throw initials, or even nothing, at the ends of messages to people we actually know or care about isn't just about being informal -- it's because we already naturally end the message itself with a friendly upbeat wrap-up ("and then we'll have it done by Friday!" / "awesome, I'll meet you there" / "have fun at the show" / "say hi to Brian for me") and don't need a whole epilogue. with strangers that sense of closure is just ... throw in anything that sounds friendly and conclusive.

i find "best" oddly grating but it's common so i'm trying to get used to it
sarahel's examples remind me the registrar's assistant would sign her emails "me." she was like 55 and her initials were not M E!

emails to one person, not mass emails. for those she'd use her real name.

lololol

hahaha i just found one in my archives

Let me know if I need to add a university course to your schedule or if there is anything else I can do for you.

me

i can't take it

i am literally cackling in my empty house right now

Ok, I added you to the course. Sure you don't want to spend spring break in Acapulco? 8-) I will re-do an audit for you and get back soonest. I can't drop you from the audit..........only a student can do that via the university system. However, wait until I get back to you about the hours.

me

i love her

JERRY: Hey, so Sophie gave me the "It's me" on the phone today.

ELAINE: "It's me?" Isn't it a little premature?

JERRY: I thought so.

ELAINE: Hah. She's not a "me". I'm a "me".

GEORGE: I'm against all "it's me's". So self-absorbed and egotistical, it's like those hip musicians with their complicated shoes!

i reallllly wanted to see this http://www.theatermania.com/los-angeles/reviews/08-2009/the-receptionist_20713.html

actually it might've been this one! didn't know there were so many! http://theater.nytimes.com/2007/10/31/theater/reviews/31rece.html

oh it's the same one.....

having documentation of professional buck-passing can be crucial.

This is truth.

I dunno what everyones problem is with thanks. Everyone is so rude and selfish these days whats wrong with a little polite nicety.

I HATE "best"!

Just one of those things, I guess.

Thanks,
Z S

ok sometimes if i'm feeling weird i'll do "Yours" but you really have to pick the right person for that

I'm one of those people who is like

Hiya Dan-O,

Thanks for your feedback on the draft I sent you yesterday. We can talk about it some during tomorrow's call if you like.

Thanks,
Z S

NOTICE THE DOUBLE THINKS

faux pas city

DOUBLE THANKS
DOUBLE THANKS

oh whatever any email you send me i would be fine with

Email sign-offs depend on the workplace, in my experience. At a legal firm I worked at everyone signed off 'Kind regards' (to external clients) which I found hilarious - like, "My regards aren't regular regards! They're KIND!"
Elsewhere it was just 'best wishes' which I associate with birthday cards.

The first time I got an email ending in 'Best, -S' I was really puzzled - best what? You think YOU'RE the best? This was pretty much the first time I worked in a place with emails, though...

kind regards is just obscene.

my mom used to sign all her emails "peace"

she meant it literally, not idiomatically

Slightly ditsy 60-ish woman I once did some database work for would sign off all her emails "bi for now". Which was kind of hilarious to me but perhaps that only shows my immaturity.

What I do not like is when you email a generic helpdesk address at work, and someone does some minor task for you, but you can't thank them and acknowledge this as you don't have a direct email address for the person who did the task, and if you send your thanks back to the helpdesk address then 50 disgruntled IT workers will see that you have sent an email containing the one word "thanks" to their entire department, and this one almost meaningless word has been assigned a new ticket number as an urgent task needing their consideration, and they will grunt to themselves that you are a terrible luser and possibly even that you use Windows and Outlook and have top-posted and other such things which are cardinal sins of IT while being actively enforced throughout all other departments

but, what can you do?

"bi for now"???

or "see you next time" (if i know them)

― access flap (omar little), Wednesday, 21 October 2009 17:29 (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

see you next time i'm buying condoms at 11:30pm! *wink*

Hi all,

I've softened the gradient behind the search input field and tightened up the margins like you requested. I also bumped up the font size a little. Let me know what you think of the changes.

Retards,

Tracer Hand

http://assets.sbnation.com/imported_assets/24138/nom-nom-nom_medium.jpg

i say "you're welcome" a lot

i also say "you got it" if i'm feeling a little loose and cavalier

What I do not like is when you email a generic helpdesk address at work, and someone does some minor task for you, but you can't thank them and acknowledge this as you don't have a direct email address for the person who did the task, and if you send your thanks back to the helpdesk address then 50 disgruntled IT workers will see that you have sent an email containing the one word "thanks" to their entire department, and this one almost meaningless word has been assigned a new ticket number as an urgent task needing their consideration, and they will grunt to themselves that you are a terrible luser and possibly even that you use Windows and Outlook and have top-posted and other such things which are cardinal sins of IT while being actively enforced throughout all other departments

this also actively annoys the fuck out of me

thanks

someone just told me "thanks, fella" on the phone.... and i liked it

another one of mine that people inthe uk think is a little weird - "no sweat"

no problemo, dude

"lovely, thanks"

no worries

Dear _____

We have no control over this. Would it be ____?

With warmest wishes
_______

Now this is a nice thing to say - but you are extending your warmest wishes with a one-line "ain't our lookout" response to someone you've never met? Your very warmest? What if your grandson comes to tea and can only get your second-warmest?

(it is a Friday morning and I am staving off a massive headache with copious painkillers and am just really looking for mindless distractions to get me to the weekend, yes)