# Replying "No problem" when someone asks a favor. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 24, 2018, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replying-no-problem-when-someone-asks-a-favor/821830 "2018-09-24T13:42:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replying-no-problem-when-someone-asks-a-favor/821830/102 "2018-09-28T19:28:47Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > It seems some of us are commenting on when someone responds to “thank you” with “no problem” and some are replying to the question asked in the OP. But that’s no problem; we can talk about both 😉 > > Regarding the former, I don’t get in a huff or anything but it gives me a vague sense of “that person doesn’t know any better”. As far as someone saying “no problem” when I ask for a favor, I think it’s a very kind gesture. They’re allaying my feeling of being an imposition. > > Or maybe I still don’t know what we’re talking about 😛 I have always thought is was similar in meaning to ‘Think nothing of it.’ > [@](#): > > Dictionary > think nothing of it > > do not apologize or feel bound to show gratitude (used as a polite response). ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replying-no-problem-when-someone-asks-a-favor/821830/103 "2018-09-28T21:39:42Z")
“My Pleasure” screams “I have been to a corpspeak seminar and drank deeply of the Flav-R-Aid”. It affirms in my mind that I am being “handled” and that any kindness that came through was insincere. I’ve been doing telephone work for over 20 years. There have been times where I was strictly corporate and stiff, and other times where I was just me. Without exception, the conversations are more productive when I present myself as a real guy who knows what is what, and whose mission is to impart that knowledge to you. IME everyone from lawyers to meth heads are more willing to trust someone speaking in a vernacular tone than someone who sounds like they know the conversation is being recorded for training purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2018, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replying-no-problem-when-someone-asks-a-favor/821830/104 "2018-09-29T06:51:03Z")
> [@Salem](#): > > Over-analyzation at its finest. It has become synonymous with “you’re welcome.” If someone responds “no problem” to me, I don’t think “Gee, I guess everything else IS a problem, except this one thing they did.” That’s just ridiculous. I will respond “no problem” when it’s really not a problem/ it’s something I don’t mind doing, especially for a client. I will sometimes respond “you’re welcome” when something actually was a pain in the butt and I did mind doing it! Doesn’t management have a few real problems to solve rather than creating one to solve? I wonder why people get so ticked off by such minor variations from the expected, Emily Post-approved responses. It’s not the exact wording, but the tone of voice and facial expression that matters. Of the handful of languages I know sufficiently well to say “you’re welcome” in, there isn’t one that uses the literal translation of “you’re welcome”. Instead it might be “Of nothing!” or “Please, very!” or something else besides. Similarly if I do favor for someone, and they say “Awesome!” or “Fantastic” or “Totes amazeballs!”\* instead of the “required” thank-you. Interjections like “thank-you” and “you’re welcome” are just placeholders for a brief and polite interaction in the course of daily life. \*Not that I consider it likely that anyone will use this last expression to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replying-no-problem-when-someone-asks-a-favor/821830.md?page=5)