Date: Thu, 24 Nov 1994 15:09:39 -0600

From: Natalie Maynor maynor[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]RA.MSSTATE.EDU

Subject: Re: Hope this helps



this electronic equivalent of "Have a nice day." "Hope this helps" seems to

refer more to the sender than the receiver or the topic; "Hope this helps"

seems to translate as "I'm eager to be agreeable." When I've used it, anyhow,

that has been the closest translation.



I've always interpreted it as more like "I'm not sure this is exactly the

information you were looking for, but I hope it's close enough to be useful."



Where--and when--did "Hope this helps" appear? And WHY? Do the members of

this list see this in their discussion groups, or is it specific to the

electonic discourse of my discipline, composition studies?



I see it more in information-exchange/question-answer type groups than in

other kinds of discussions.

--Natalie (maynor[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ra.msstate.edu)