Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 11:27:28 -0700

From: Peter McGraw pmcgraw[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]LINFIELD.EDU

Subject: Re: thank you . . . thank you



At some point during my teens (in the late '50s), I got the idea that it

was impolite to say, "You're welcome," which up to that time I had always

said without thinking, and that one should always thank the person back

instead, to give the impression that, "Oh, the obligation is all mine," or

something. I wasn't aware at the time that everybody else had gotten this

idea, but it seems to me, too, that I rarely hear "You're welcome"

anymore. I'm not sure whether this is because others have taken to saying,

"Thank you (back)!" or whether it's because more informal replies have

taken over--such as "Sure!", "You bet!" (mainly in the West, I think), and

(in recent years) "No problem!"



Peter McGraw





On Fri, 17 Oct 1997, Larry Rosenwald wrote:



The recent query about "in future" vs. "in the future" prompted

me to ask this. When I listen to the radio, I'm often struck by the

fact that when a host of, say, a talk show, says to his or her guest,

"thank you for being with us," the guest replies "thank you" rather

than "you're welcome." It's my (unsubstantiated) impression that this

replacement is becoming more common, and was considerably less common

when I was growing up (I'm 49). Has anyone else noticed this?

Best, Larry Rosenwald