Maybe it’s just me but it seems like the phrase “you’re welcome” as a response to thank you is going out of style. Seems like the new standard is to respond with another “thank you”.
“Thank you”
“Thank you”
I especially notice it when I’m listening to NPR. The Radio personality is interviewing someone and at the end of the interview says “Thank You” to which the response is almost universally “Thank you” which seems odd to me. What about “you’re welcome” or “You’re welcome, thank you for having me” or “You’re welcome, it’s been my pleasure”?
In the non radio world I often hear the same thing or the more casual “no problem”. Once I thanked a guy and he responded “cheers” which seemed really odd.
So tell me, is it me or is ‘you’re welcome’ falling out of favor?
I don’t like to say "Your welcome"because it always seems to me like I’m saying "yes, I agree that you should be thanking me, but since I am gracious, I will say this pleasantry " . I just say something else.
Yeah, “you’re welcome” has almost taken on a tone of “yeah, you SHOULD be thanking me, ya jerk.” Well, OK, not with the “jerk” part, but the rest is pretty much how I feel when someone says “you’re welcome.”
It is definitely falling out of favor in common speech, I think.
“Cheers” is a very common way of saying “thanks” in the UK, btw.
Glad to see I’m not the only one who thinks “you’re welcome” as a response to “thank you” sounds a little patronizing and unnecessary. I won’t miss it.
I prefer “Don’t mention it.” But I will note that saying thank you in response to a thank you has been around for a while in the context used on NPR. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone respond to “Thank you [for your time]” with “You’re Welcome.” To respond that way would be to imply I graciously gave of my time, but that you just had time to waste.
The radio situation is not quite like in real life. The interviewer is thanking the subject for his or her time, while the interviewee is thanking the former for the opportunity to tell his or her story (or whatever).
Interviewer: And today all our listeners have learned something important about the dangers of walking while chewing gum, thanks to our guest, Cantwalk McClumsy. Mr. McClumsy, thank you [for your time and your efforts in telling your story],
Interviewee: Thank you, Interviewer, [for allowing me the opportunity to tell my story and get some radio time]. If only one life has been saved today, it’s worth it to me.
Now if you are in the grocery store or something, that’s different. Although around here everyone thanks one another constantly out of force of habit so who knows.
I never really thought about it as overly formal or even patronizing. Wow. I say you’re welcome all the time when I’m thanked. (probably 'cause I like to be different) I may need to rethink that.
I alternate between “you’re welcome,” “no problem,” and “de rien,” depending on the nature of the situation and the size of the favor (or whatever) I’m being thanked for. If I just did a major favor for someone, damn right I say “you’re welcome.” I’m also more likely to say that in a more formal environment, like with a coworker (or my boss) as opposed to a friend.
Slight hijack - I’ve lived in several non-english speaking countries and it always cracks me up when the locals say “welcome” instead of “you’re welcome.” I guess they figure since we shorten “thank you” to “thanks” that it’s ok. Still makes me laugh though.
ETA: I usually say “no proplem” or “you’re welcome.” I use them both equally depending on the person I’m responding to.
I take calls at an insurance company for a living. I generally try to say “you’re welcome” because otherwise we end up in a circle of “thanks” “thank you!” “no thank you!”
I say “you’re welcome” in response to a “thank you”. Sometimes I say “that’s ok, I’ll send you a bill”. But usually “you’re welcome”. I’m pretty old though. Maybe it’s fallen out of favor to be polite.
When I worked retail I usually replied to customers thanks with ‘no problem’ rather than ‘you’re welcome’ - saying ‘you’re welcome’ implies that I had just done them a huge favour out of the goodness of my heart, when the reality was that I was being paid to serve them and we both knew it. To me it makes more sense to convey the message “it’s not a problem for me to help you since I’m here anyways and this is my job” rather than “I’ve taken time out of my busy schedule to help you so you’d better thank me”.
Of course there were a few customers who objected to it - usually in the 50+ female demographic (which everyone who works retail seems to agree are the most likely to have some kind of unreasonable issue with you). I distinctly remember one lady making a big scene when I said ‘no problem’ even though I’d been assisting her for about half an hour, patiently answering all her questions and so on. She went on and on very loudly about how rude young people today were and how I was clearly not brought up properly. Right lady, because yelling at a minimum wage employee in front of other customers and co-workers after I had been nothing but nice to her is soooo much less rude than daring to say ‘no problem’. Grrr, it still makes me angry thinking about it and that was probably 10 years ago!