Answer of 'Thanks'

Shiner   Fri Aug 18, 2006 9:05 pm GMT
Where should we say "you welcome" and where should say "never mind"?
zxczxc   Fri Aug 18, 2006 10:19 pm GMT
Make sure you don't use "you're welcome" too much, since it becomes patronising. Anyway, it should be used after someone's thanked you for a gift or for change in a shop, etc. If someone were to disappoint you but you were to ignore it and they thanked you for it, then you might say "never mind". That would be a lot rarer though.
Uriel   Sat Aug 19, 2006 1:10 pm GMT
I would never use "never mind" as a substitute for "you're welcome". Nor would I ever find "you're welcome" patronizing -- first I've heard of that interpretation.

But I've read that people from different English-speaking countries "read" different things into different responses, which would explain the difference between zxczxc and me -- it's a cultural thing. For instance, its common in the US to just say a cheery "uh-huh" instead of the full "you're welcome" -- but I read on one website that an Australian found this condescending and rude, as though the person wasn't bothering to make the full reply.

So the answer to your question might depend on where you are, Shiner.
Johnathan Mark   Sat Aug 19, 2006 5:41 pm GMT
I always say "you bet," but I'm from Minnesota.
Deborah   Sat Aug 19, 2006 8:19 pm GMT
Another response to "Thanks" that I hear frequently is "No problem".
Lazar   Sat Aug 19, 2006 8:47 pm GMT
I agree with Uriel: I don't think "Never mind" is ever a suitable response to "Thanks".

I also agree with Uriel about "You're welcome": I've never perceived it as patronizing. In informal situations (with friends, for instance) I might be a bit more likely to use the less formal "No problem", but there's nothing patronizing about "You're welcome".
Travis   Sat Aug 19, 2006 9:01 pm GMT
>>I would never use "never mind" as a substitute for "you're welcome". Nor would I ever find "you're welcome" patronizing -- first I've heard of that interpretation.<<

Agreed. "Never mind" seems quite impolite as a response to "thank you" to myself, to say the least. However, "no problem" is used at times here in response to "thank you" with the general sense of "never mind" that I think is actually intended here (even though it is not how I would perceive "never mind" as such were it to be used in such a fashion in Real Life).

At the same time, the idea of "you're welcome" being patronizing seems absolutely ridiculous to myself as well, considering it is the standard response to "thank you" here when one is trying to explicitly be polite.
j   Sun Aug 20, 2006 7:22 am GMT
When you say "Thank you" to a shop assistant for providing you with some general information , you often get 'sure' as an answer:
'Where can I find a ****? '-
'Aisle nine'
- 'Thank you'
- 'Sure'
Travis   Mon Aug 21, 2006 1:09 pm GMT
>>When you say "Thank you" to a shop assistant for providing you with some general information , you often get 'sure' as an answer:
'Where can I find a ****? '-
'Aisle nine'
- 'Thank you'
- 'Sure' <<

At least here, like with "never mind", "sure" sounds rather impolite in response to "thank you", to myself at least. I really can't say I hear such here much if at all myself.
pirat   Mon Aug 21, 2006 4:42 pm GMT
Same for me as for Travis. "Sure" is something like "piss off" and means-> bother me with stupid questions no more...

'Never mind' seems be eqaulity of 'No problem', but only in conversation of two friends, otherwise it's rude.
Uriel   Tue Aug 22, 2006 8:43 am GMT
"Sure" may sound abrupt in print, but in the right tone of voice it's a perfectly pleasant response that doesn't come across as rude at all. A lot of things involving pleasantries depend on tone and context and eye contact and lots of other non-verbal signals that convey intent, rather than just on the vocabulary choices alone. But it also depends on what you're used to; if it's a response that's unfamiliar to the listener, they may take it the wrong way.
Travis   Tue Aug 22, 2006 1:38 pm GMT
>>"Sure" may sound abrupt in print, but in the right tone of voice it's a perfectly pleasant response that doesn't come across as rude at all. A lot of things involving pleasantries depend on tone and context and eye contact and lots of other non-verbal signals that convey intent, rather than just on the vocabulary choices alone. But it also depends on what you're used to; if it's a response that's unfamiliar to the listener, they may take it the wrong way.<<

Tis true; for instance, I would probably not react the same way to a properly intonated [Su:R] (which could come off as polite if done right) than, say, a monotone [SR=] (which I would generally find to be impolite).
AUSland   Wed Aug 23, 2006 6:52 am GMT
I say generally "not at all" in AUS.
Guest   Wed Aug 23, 2006 8:45 am GMT
No worries.
Ingvarr   Wed Aug 23, 2006 2:46 pm GMT
Could you say just "OK" in a situation of familiarity? How widespread is it?

Also, another colloquial equivalent would be "Any time", wouldn't it?