Date:  Sun, 19 Oct 1997 21:47:03 -0400
From:  "MELISSA S. SMITH" <mssmit01[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MOREHEAD-ST.EDU>
Subject: Re: thank you . . . thank you

On Fri, 17 Oct 1997, Peter McGraw wrote:

> 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
> >
>
Peter,

  "You're welcome" is a rather meaningless saying. It has been replaced
with "No problem", and "Don't mention it". This tells the person that
said "Thank you" that you were more than happy to lend a hand and that
recognition is not necessary.

Melissa S. Smith