# Thank you is fine. I don't need anything more elaborate than that **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 16, 2022, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036 "2022-11-16T15:49:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036/21 "2022-11-16T18:03:56Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I usually answer the “have a blessed day” people with something like “May the ultimate god Zeus smile upon your fortunes.” > > IMO it’s important to push back at their implicit assumption that everyone, including you, believes in their version of religion. As with pushing back at political loudmouths, your silence gives them explicit consent and implied unanimity. Don’t do that. Yes, that’s a lovely sentiment and in my personal life I’m an adherent. Unfortunately, at work pushing back can rile up a customer, which has the potential to get me fired. It grates on my that I am surrendering to this assumption and proselytizing in order to keep my paycheck coming, but unfortunately that is what I am forced to do in order to survive in a Christian-dominated country and even more so in Red state knee-deep in evangelicals. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > As with pushing back at political loudmouths, your silence gives them explicit consent and implied unanimity. Don’t do that. OK. Soon as you can show me how I can continue to pay my bills while doing that. I am low down on the social totem, pushing back is likely to get me stomped on. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Non-Xians may be a majority (barely) in this country, but they’re a very silent, and therefore very invisible, majority. Who may pay grievously for their silence over the coming years. Gentle pushback is good; in your face-ism isn’t. Where I live anything not openly supportive of Christianity is often interpreted as “in your face-ism”. I was once screamed at by a customer who was upset because I didn’t wish the customer ahead of him an explicit “Merry Christmas”. The person ahead of him was a woman in a Muslim garb, not just the head scarf but the black outer robe as well. Pretty sure she didn’t celebrate Christmas and she didn’t object to my “Have a nice day” - but the asshole behind her sure did. I really hate working retail during the Christian holidays. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036/22 "2022-11-16T18:08:31Z")
I hate customer service every damn day of the year. People are just rude, and clueless in a plethora of ways. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036/23 "2022-11-16T18:09:44Z")
> [@Sylvanz](#): > > People are just rude, and clueless in a plethora of ways. The thing that bothers me most is how inarticulate they are and how bad they are at conveying information. And then how bad they are at receiving information. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036/24 "2022-11-16T18:11:35Z")
I feel like a lot is being assumed behind the usage of blessed. I agree with 3AxisCtrl, the vast majority of ppl use it in the same sense of “may you experience good fortune”, whether they are Christian or not. No different than saying “Bless you” when someone sneezes. Both have religious origins but their usage today is mostly non-religious. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036/25 "2022-11-16T18:14:06Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > Both have religious origins but their usage today is mostly non-religious. I don’t think any significant proportion of non-religious people say “Have a blessed day.” It’s not comparable to “bless you” in my view. It’s implausible, especially when “have a good/nice day” is so solidly entrenched into our culture. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036/26 "2022-11-16T18:15:25Z")
> [@Sylvanz](#): > > I agree that people need to quit assuming that everyone believes the way they do. I don’t think that the random person who says “have a blessed day” to people is assuming that others are Christian (or even theists); my suspicion is that they see it as doing some low-level witnessing for their faith. When I was in college, I was, for a time, a member of an Evangelical Christian student organization. There was a sort of similar societal norm in that group along those lines: one didn’t say “gesundheit” or “bless you” when someone nearby sneezed (whether or not they were a member of the group), but, specifically, “ **God** bless you.” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036/27 "2022-11-16T18:15:49Z")
Let’s try this again: `` > **[Google Books Ngram Viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=have%2Ba%2Bnice%2Bday%2Chave%2Ba%2Bgood%2Bday%2Chave%2Ba%2Bblessed%2Bday&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=26&smoothing=3#)** > > Google Books Ngram Viewer ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036/28 "2022-11-16T18:20:45Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I don’t think any significant proportion of non-religious people say “Have a blessed day.” It’s not comparable to “bless you” in my view. It’s implausible, especially when “have a good/nice day” is so solidly entrenched into our culture. I hear it all the time. Maybe it’s cultural. It’s very common with Black ppl in the US, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036/29 "2022-11-16T18:22:02Z")
Dangit. How do you post Ngrams to the board? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036/30 "2022-11-16T18:22:34Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > I hear it all the time. Maybe it’s cultural. I’ve heard it once. Small town in Tennessee, from a woman working in a small store. I was okay with it. She meant well. If it was more often, perhaps it would bother me. I was more bothered by the “where do you go to church?” question I got a lot in the rural south. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036/31 "2022-11-16T18:27:57Z")
I’ve heard it four times today already. I’m on my route dropping off food for seniors (mostly African-American). I say “God bless you” right back. Or if they say “God bless you” I say “You too. Have a blessed day.” As said above, I’m an atheist. I did grow up culturally Catholic, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036/32 "2022-11-16T20:07:34Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Have a blessed day.” It’s not comparable to “bless you” in my view. It’s implausible, This, “Have a blessed day” or “God Bless you” as a farewell are both religious, and I find it difficult to equate them with, “Bless you” when someone sneezes. At least here it isn’t typical and it’s sort of … intrusive and/or assumptive. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036/33 "2022-11-16T20:35:20Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > This language is too intimate. I disagree entirely. These, like “thank you,” are almost always thoughtless platitudes. They’re the opposite of intimate. They’re sound-symbols that take the place of thinking of something genuine to say to a person for the sake of expedience. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036/34 "2022-11-16T20:42:29Z")
“I appreciate your help” and “I appreciate your helping me” are common formulations of transactional courtesy. “I appreciate _you_,” however is very different and has a very different ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036/35 "2022-11-16T20:43:19Z")
Usually “blessed day” platitudes don’t bother me. It’s meant well, and my brain often shunts it into a pagan context anyway. If it’s witnessing, I find it rude, but that’s on them not me. > [@Procrustus](#): > > I was more bothered by the “where do you go to church?” question I got a lot in the rural south. This one irritates me no end. If I say that I don’t attend, then I get a litany of suggestions about nice congregations that I could join. I have no idea how to deflect without being rude. It’s very tempting to say that my coven is down members and ask them to join. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036/36 "2022-11-16T20:43:34Z")
We’ve got someone at work who overlades every email with extremely flowery “I appreciate you and all the work you do” sort of language as well as “enjoy this beautiful, blessed day,” etc. etc. – I am not quoting directly, because it seems too mean, but trust me, it’s quite over the top. There’s a religious inflexion for sure, but that’s not really the problem – the problem is every communication reads like a Hallmark card with glitter and little candy hearts inside. For a long time I thought this person was just super-nice, but over time I’ve come to see the language as blowing smoke, and maybe they’re not all that nice. I wish someone would tell them to tone it down. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036/37 "2022-11-16T21:21:06Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I was once screamed at by a customer who was upset because I didn’t wish the customer ahead of him an explicit “Merry Christmas”. The person ahead of him was a woman in a Muslim garb, not just the head scarf but the black outer robe as well. Pretty sure she didn’t celebrate Christmas Why wouldn’t you say _Merry Christmas_? Because she’s (in all probability) Muslim? I know quite a few Muslims who celebrate Christmas. Obviously not in the Christian sense, but the way most people do, i.e. secularized: family, food, gifts, days off work in the middle of the winter. What’s not to like? And wishing them a _Merry Christmas_ is as empty a phrase as _Have a Nice Day_. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036/38 "2022-11-16T21:37:10Z")
A lot of people don’t say Merry Christmas. And a lot of people of minority religions, particularly Jews and Muslims, don’t exchange that greeting, even if they celebrate in other ways liken putting up trees. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036/39 "2022-11-16T21:47:15Z")
Man, I love the recent trend of “I appreciate you” (or “'preciate ya”). It seems so much cooler to me than “thanks.” ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036/40 "2022-11-16T21:50:53Z")
> [@Charlie\_Tan](#): > > Why wouldn’t you say _Merry Christmas_? Because she’s (in all probability) Muslim? I Why would I wish some one a merry holiday for a holiday neither of us celebrate? She wasn’t probably a Muslim, she was (and still is, for that matter) a Muslim. She’s a regular at the store. We’ve occasionally commiserated in the ladies’ room about how the Christians get crazy this time of year. There is this myth that “everyone” celebrates Christmas now and it’s a “secular” holiday. No, it’s not. The Bible-thumpers are correct in their assertion that it’s about their baby Jesus. The fact that a lot of other faiths have something going on around that time is partly coincidence and partly human need to distract from the cold weather and darkness. The only reason I “celebrate” Christmas is because I have some Christian friends who invite me to their celebration. I think it’s weird to sing happy birthday to the baby Jesus, but hey, _their house, their rules._ Which is different than being in a _public place_ screaming at two people who don’t share your beliefs for not engaging in semi-ritualized social exchanges based on your religion. > [@Charlie\_Tan](#): > > Obviously not in the Christian sense, but the way most people do, i.e. secularized: family, food, gifts, days off work in the middle of the winter. What’s not to like? I get ONE day off (other than my usual two per week) during this holiday season. That’s Christmas itself. And if I’m really unlucky I get the short straw for coming in to the store at 3 am on December 26 to help re-start everything. Family? My nearest relative is literally 500 miles away. I can not do that as a day trip. Because of the “blackout” on asking for time off during this period so long as I hold my current job I will NEVER be able to spend either Thanksgiving or Christmas with my family. So… so much for “family time” (but thank goodness for friends who will give me a place at their table). What’s not to like? The very toxic assholes who make working retail this time of year such a hellish cesspit. You know - the ones who scream because you don’t cater to their notion of forcing their religious holiday on people who don’t share their religion. The people who stress themselves out over a holiday that is supposed to be enjoyable but clearly isn’t for many. > [@Acsenray](#): > > A lot of people don’t say Merry Christmas. And a lot of people of minority religions, particularly Jews and Muslims, don’t exchange that greeting, even if they celebrate in other ways liken putting up trees. ^ This. Lots of Jews put up tinsel and pretty lights (and the fact they have a holiday around that time involving lights gives them a great excuse) but they’re not celebrating “Jewish Christmas”. They’re celebrating Hanukah, a holiday that predates Christmas by quite a few number of years. Jews are no more celebrating “Jewish Christmas” than Christians are celebrating “Christian Hanukah”, even if those Christians are using light displays, giving gifts to children, and eating traditional foods. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-is-fine-i-dont-need-anything-more-elaborate-than-that/975036.md?page=3)