“Thank You” in Hindi and English Mean Very Different Things
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“Thank You” in Hindi and English Mean Very Different Things
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Re: “Thank You” in Hindi and English Mean Very Different Things
#2As an American, I've sometimes been bothered by the use of thank you. It is fine as a pleasantry at a restaurant. But it always felt odd coming from a boss or from the company CEO. I think to myself, "I didn't do this piece of work as a favor to you, I didn't because you are paying me and you told me to do it." It is interesting to read that this view is more common in other cultures. I also dislike putting "thank you" in an email, before they have agreed to do the favor or task. It feels very presumptuous. Am I crazy or do other people feel the same way.
Re: “Thank You” in Hindi and English Mean Very Different Things
#3As an American, I've sometimes been bothered by the use of thank you. It is fine as a pleasantry at a restaurant. But it always felt odd coming from a boss or from the company CEO. I think to myself, "I didn't do this piece of work as a favor to you, I didn't because you are paying me and you told me to do it." It is interesting to read that this view is more common in other cultures. I also dislike putting "thank yo…
I had a manager who made a practice of thanking people when they did things he had asked them to. I hadn't seen it done that assiduously before, and I rather got to like it. I try to do the same now, when appropriate.
I agree, though, that pre-thanking someone before they've done what you ask is presumptuous.
Re: “Thank You” in Hindi and English Mean Very Different Things
#4This is partly in line with my experiences. It's more subtle than it comes across in the article. I've thanked servers, taxi drivers, and others, but don't recall thanking a bus driver.
I have thanked my parents and they've never had issues. However, in general thanking elders is considered bad form, but asking them or appreciating their blessing isn't. Is that very different?
Re: “Thank You” in Hindi and English Mean Very Different Things
#5As people say (more eloquently) in the comments, he's just wrong assuming that people in America say "Thank You" just to end a transaction. But it makes for a better narrative, doesn't it?
Re: “Thank You” in Hindi and English Mean Very Different Things
#6In other news, different cultures are different.
Re: “Thank You” in Hindi and English Mean Very Different Things
#7This is partly in line with my experiences. It's more subtle than it comes across in the article. I've thanked servers, taxi drivers, and others, but don't recall thanking a bus driver. I have thanked my parents and they've never had issues. However, in general thanking elders is considered bad form, but asking them or appreciating their blessing isn't. Is that very different?
Interesting. It's quite common in Australia to thank the bus drivers.
Re: “Thank You” in Hindi and English Mean Very Different Things
#8There's a similar problem with my native language[1] and "sorry". The standard word, samaavenna literally means "forgive me". As a former British Colony (Sri Lanka) most of us have got used to the English words -- even non-English speakers will automatically say "sorry" or "thank you".
But once "thank you" is said, most people awkwardly respond with "ah", because there's no phrase in the language for "you're welcome".
Come to think of it, we don't even have a universal second person (a "you"). You need to know the social standing of the person before you can address him/her!
Re: “Thank You” in Hindi and English Mean Very Different Things
#9I live in the UK, and whenever I travel back to Bulgaria, I get told off for saying "sorry" and "thank you" all the time.
In Bulgarian, the word for "thank you" is "благодаря" ("blagodarya") but people often fall back to a simple "мерси" ("merci" - the French word, yes) for transactional thank-yous.
I'm not really sure whether that's because "благодаря" is reserved for sincere, heartfelt thanksgiving or because the word is just too long to say very often.
Re: “Thank You” in Hindi and English Mean Very Different Things
#10I say thank you often, and every single time it's because I feel gratitude. This guy is doing it wrong.
> After moving to America, it took me several years to say thanks to people without actually meaning it. Putting “thank you” on the tip of my tongue, ready to escape at a moment’s notice, rather than extracting it from the depths of my heart, was one of the hardest language lessons I had to learn in the United States.