As a sociological study, a friend of mine counted how many thanks' and sorry's she got in a day, and their motivation. It was crazy how many he got. Do most people just do it as an automatic reaction? Is this a good thing? Does it show good manners or a lack of genuine feelings?
2006-11-02 01:33:43 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Etiquette
Some people really do mean it, but I believe the majority of people say it just to be polite. At least their mind is in the right place in trying to be considerate to a person. I'd say 50% of our daily speech is occupied saying to others what we think they want to hear, but I'm just guessing on the percentage.
2006-11-02 01:43:05 · answer #1 · answered by DJ 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I think it depends on the person. I mean it when I say thanks or sorry, though I use both quite frequently. I am genuinely sorry if something is going wrong for you or if I have done something to hurt you. And I am truly thankful if someone helps me out at work, or buys a small "treat" or even comes through with something they said they'd do. That might not be very helpful, but it is true feelings when I say either.
2006-11-02 01:42:20 · answer #2 · answered by Jan S 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'd say it would be hard to filter out the ones that are rote responses; plus, there are cultural variations in who says "sorry" or "thanks" at what time and for what purpose. The British sometimes open a conversation by saying, "I'm sorry, but..." or "Pardon me, but..." . You would have to filter by colloquial usage before you could tell which expressions were rote and which were not. Perhaps, if your friend deliberately said something that should elicit a thanks or a sorry and then waited for responses, it might be a little more structured. Of course it shouldn't be anything that will get him/her beaten up behind the Tastee-Freez as we say in Alabama...
2006-11-02 01:40:16 · answer #3 · answered by Black Dog 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
For me, it's automatic either way. But I do mean it. I've been accused of saying I'm Sorry too often, not when I've done something wrong, but meaning "I'm sorry to hear that", that kind of way. And then I get told that it's not my fault. Well, I am sorry to hear someone was in a car crash or a family member died, or they got fired, divorced, whatever.
2006-11-02 02:11:21 · answer #4 · answered by chefgrille 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i in my opinion love warm black women human beings which have afros like that actress from the 70's ummm Pam something she performed crafty cleopatra, coffey, and different issues i did not experience sorry for her i imagine her hair became marvelous lol oh yeah way off topic in case you want to thank someone for exhibiting compassion then thats your perogative to hell what everyone else thinks
2016-12-05 11:17:30 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some do it for manners and some really do mean it. It really all depends on a few factors which include the parties at hand.
2006-11-02 01:38:32 · answer #6 · answered by KathyS 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's always been my habit to say things that I have some feeling about. For me, when I say thank you-it's sincere. Otherwise I'd consider myself a liar of sorts.
2006-11-02 11:52:19 · answer #7 · answered by CurledWolf 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What a great question!
I think most people say, what they think you want to hear.
Then there are the ones who tell you their genuine feelings.
Hope this helps.
2006-11-02 01:52:17 · answer #8 · answered by eyes_of_iceblue 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
to play safe, people programme themselves to be polite. because the rtheorical question is, is it rude to be polite?
2006-11-02 03:11:17 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think so.... "thank you's more than "sorry's".... what's worse is the "have a nice day"
2006-11-02 01:42:19 · answer #10 · answered by Adios 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋