I’ll second the “thank you”, and append that “please” and “you’re welcome” are also wonderful phrases. I tend to read out as exceptionally polite as long as I’m managing those three.
I have, ONCE in my life, had someone upset with me for my politeness, but that was because I was overusing “sorry”. I do find apologizing is a useful trait, but it’s definitely easier to overdo that one :)
Regarding exact phrasing, I think “no problem” has largely replaced “you’re welcome” outside of formal settings. Also, here is something it took me a while to figure out—in the case of an approximately equal trade, both parties should thank each other, but saying “you’re welcome” or an equivalent would be kind of insulting.
In that particular case I could see “you’re welcome” being received oddly, since the social expectation is to thank the other person. That said “You’re welcome—and thank YOU for your $GIFT” seems to work decently if it’s, say, exchanging Christmas gifts.
I’ve generally gotten positive reactions to using “you’re welcome”. It might help that I have a voice that comes across as genuinely friendly and happy, and when I’m not genuinely feeling that way I won’t use the phrase. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone react as though it was insulting, in any circumstances.
Admittedly I also just have a personal dislike of “no problem”—it strikes me as disparaging the effort that went in to something, and I only use it when it was a genuinely trivial effort, or if the person seems to be honestly concerned that they’ve imposed too much on me.
Saying “no problem” to something big also reads out as having an undertone of “you really shouldn’t bother thanking me, I didn’t actually put any effort in to this”, and my experience is that people DO react somewhat to that undertone.
Hmmm, interesting. Overall, “no problem” seems to move people towards a more neutral response to my gift—reducing both anxieties of imposing on me, and enthusiasm/gratitude for me going out of my way to help.
I’ll second the “thank you”, and append that “please” and “you’re welcome” are also wonderful phrases. I tend to read out as exceptionally polite as long as I’m managing those three.
I have, ONCE in my life, had someone upset with me for my politeness, but that was because I was overusing “sorry”. I do find apologizing is a useful trait, but it’s definitely easier to overdo that one :)
Regarding exact phrasing, I think “no problem” has largely replaced “you’re welcome” outside of formal settings. Also, here is something it took me a while to figure out—in the case of an approximately equal trade, both parties should thank each other, but saying “you’re welcome” or an equivalent would be kind of insulting.
In that particular case I could see “you’re welcome” being received oddly, since the social expectation is to thank the other person. That said “You’re welcome—and thank YOU for your $GIFT” seems to work decently if it’s, say, exchanging Christmas gifts.
I’ve generally gotten positive reactions to using “you’re welcome”. It might help that I have a voice that comes across as genuinely friendly and happy, and when I’m not genuinely feeling that way I won’t use the phrase. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone react as though it was insulting, in any circumstances.
Admittedly I also just have a personal dislike of “no problem”—it strikes me as disparaging the effort that went in to something, and I only use it when it was a genuinely trivial effort, or if the person seems to be honestly concerned that they’ve imposed too much on me.
Saying “no problem” to something big also reads out as having an undertone of “you really shouldn’t bother thanking me, I didn’t actually put any effort in to this”, and my experience is that people DO react somewhat to that undertone.
Hmmm, interesting. Overall, “no problem” seems to move people towards a more neutral response to my gift—reducing both anxieties of imposing on me, and enthusiasm/gratitude for me going out of my way to help.