Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

“Thank You” in Hindi and English Mean Very Different Things

theatlantic.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 161 posts

Re: “Thank You” in Hindi and English Mean Very Different Things

#21

Post by mrcarrot »

[deleted] wrote: post #14
andrey-p wrote: post #9

I 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 w…

[deleted]

I think the parent meant "Yes, we use the french word 'merci'", not that he thought 'merci' meant 'yes'.

Re: “Thank You” in Hindi and English Mean Very Different Things

#22

Post by vlasev »

andrey-p wrote: post #9

I 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 w…

I think it's mostly because it's so long and somewhat convoluted. "Благодаря" has 4 syllables while "мерси" only has 2. It's similar to saying "thanks" instead of "thank you" but that comparison is lost because the two words in Bulgarian are so different.

Re: “Thank You” in Hindi and English Mean Very Different Things

#23

Post by vlasev »

bolaft wrote: post #19
andrey-p wrote: post #9

I 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 w…

> ("merci" - the French word, yes) Do you know why?

French had a large influence on Bulgarian. A lot of bulgarian words are borrowed from French.

Re: “Thank You” in Hindi and English Mean Very Different Things

#25

Post by dudul »

“Thank you for coming to my home” actually meant, “It’s time for you to get out of my house.”

Seriously? Find new friends. When I thank people after hosting an event I do mean to thank them for choosing to spend their time with me. I feel like this post is blently dishonest and caricaturing just to tell a nice story.

Re: “Thank You” in Hindi and English Mean Very Different Things

#26

Post by ajuc »

andrey-p wrote: post #9

I 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 w…

In Polish before 90s the French "pardon" was used for casual "I'm sorry" (for example when you bump into someone) as opposed to native (and more intense) "przepraszam" used when you really mean it.

Since 90s (and all the American movies) most people switched to English "sorry" instead of the French "pardon" for casual "I'm sorry". The original "przepraszam" is still mostly used for more meaningful apologies. And "pardon" is still there if you want to sound old-style casual.

And yes, part of it is - "przepraszam" is longer and sounds more "dignified". The thinking goes "if you're really sorry you should work for it".

Re: “Thank You” in Hindi and English Mean Very Different Things

#27

Post by ajuc »

paulsutter wrote: post #10

I 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 Stat…

You feel gratitude when you receive change from the shop clerk and say "thanks, bye"?

I guess the word "gratitude" is routinely badly translated, too, in that case.

Re: “Thank You” in Hindi and English Mean Very Different Things

#28

Post by 1_player »

linuxydave wrote: post #15
hliyan wrote: post #8

There'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"…

>But once "thank you" is said, most people awkwardly respond with "ah", because there's no phrase in the language for "you're welcome". In London I've noticed that instead of saying, "you're welcome" people prefer to say "no worries", which is far more casual. I don't know why that phrase started to be used but if I had to give a guess I'd say that it was out of awkwardness because there wasn't a less formal/personal…

There are different degrees of gratitude you're expressing with a "thank you":

- Thanking for an ordinary action, i.e. after buying something at a shop: no answer.

- Thanking for something that didn't cost me very much, i.e. lending £20 to a friend: I usually answer with "no worries (mate)".

- Thanking for something that cost me in some way (time, money, effort), i.e. helping pushing a stranger's car on the street: "You're welcome".

Re: “Thank You” in Hindi and English Mean Very Different Things

#29

Post by seszett »

paulsutter wrote: post #20
darkroasted wrote: post #2

As 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…

Thanking is not used to acknowledge a favor, thanking expresses gratitude. It means your boss appreciates your effort, that he doesn't consider you a robot who does work solely for the money. Maybe he thinks you put a little bit of yourself into the work.

> he doesn't consider you a robot who does work solely for the money.

Looks like he might be wrong though.

Re: “Thank You” in Hindi and English Mean Very Different Things

#30

Post by danieltillett »

hliyan wrote: post #17
linuxydave wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>But once "thank you" is said, most people awkwardly respond with "ah", because there's no phrase in the language for "you're welcome". In London I've noticed that instead of saying, "you're welcome" people prefer to say "no worries", which is far more casual. I don't know why that phrase started to be used but if I had to give a guess I'd say that it was out of awkwardness because there wasn't a less formal/personal…

I've heard Australians say "no worries" (often with a trailing "mate") a lot. I always thought it originated there.

As an Australian I can say that "no worries" is very common here (ocker). It has a bit of an ambiguous meaning as it implies that the person saying thank you didn't really need to, but at the same time it is a means of acknowledging that you recognise and appreciate the thank you.
Post reply on HN