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
>