"You are welcome" + Rule of Three (1819)

[Dennis R. Preston]

Could he have heard the "Shut up!" which is exclamatory rather than directive?

dInIs


>----- Original Message -----
>>
>>How about "No problem!" which has pretty much replaced it among under-40s
>>?
>
>
>I had a German friend whose English was minimal, at best, but that didn't
>prevent him from using it, sometimes incomprehensibly. If you said, Thank
>you, he would reply, "Shut up."  What he meant was, "Don't mention it," but
>how he got from there to "Shut up" I never did figure out.
>
>D


--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic,
        Asian and African Languages
Wells Hall A-740
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1027 USA
Office: (517) 353-0740
Fax: (517) 432-2736