Thank you for having me (UNCLASSIFIED)

Dan Goncharoff thegonch at GMAIL.COM
Thu Dec 16 15:46:24 UTC 2010


You mean, if I hold the door for someone, and they say "Thank you",
and I say "You're welcome", I am saying they are welcome to having the
door held open?

I doubt it.

DanG

On Thu, Dec 16, 2010 at 10:35 AM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Thank you for having me (UNCLASSIFIED)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Environment has/ had nothing to do with it.
>
> "You're welcome!" means you're welcome to whatever it is you've just thanked
> me for. In other words, "No thanks are necessary!"
>
> Of course, Inglish speakers may well be thinking that "welcome" means only
> what it says on a doormat and have been avoiding the polite expression
> largely for that reason.
>
> By 2026, it'll be a hearty "Whatev!"
>
> JL
>
> On Thu, Dec 16, 2010 at 10:28 AM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: Thank you for having me (UNCLASSIFIED)
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Aren't you bothered by the lack of relevance of "you're welcome" to
>> the notion of being thanked? If someone is thanking me for something I
>> did, my first thought shouldn't be to tell that person, possibly
>> falsely, that they I am happy for them to be in my immediate
>> environment, should it?
>>
>> Like "no problem", it's just a convention, and one without direct meaning.
>>
>> DanG
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 16, 2010 at 9:58 AM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC
>> <Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:
>> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> > Poster:       "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
>> > Subject:      Re: Thank you for having me (UNCLASSIFIED)
>> >
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >
>> > Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
>> > Caveats: NONE
>> >
>> > I was always taught that "you're welcome" is the gracious way to say
>> > "you're welcome".  But this is less bothersome to me than being told "no
>> > problem" when telling someone "thank you."
>> >
>> >
>> >>
>> >> There is nothing "smarmy" about this phrase. It is a gracious way so
>> >> say "you're welcome."
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> >I'd like to nominate "Thank you for having me"
>> >> >for smarmy expression of the year.
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> > Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
>> > Caveats: NONE
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> >
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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