You’re Welcome [Originally posted Friday, June 24, 2011]
I was reading the newspaper’s letters
to the editor when one person complained about receiving a “No problem” from a
teenaged server rather than “You’re welcome.” The writer did not explicitly
state annoyance at the response, but he implied he was insulted with the
response.
This boggles me. When someone tells
me “Thank you” I usually say “No problem” or some variant. I’m not sure why
this would insult anyone since it’s an acknowledgement of the thanks just like
“You’re welcome” is. “But ‘No problem’ is slang,” one might say. “The proper
response is ‘You’re welcome.’”
Proper? Not slang? Do you realize
who you’re dealing with?
There’s a reason I put this post on
etymology day. “You’re welcome” was not always the proper reply for “Thank
you.” When someone says welcome, usually they’re referring to an invited guest
they’re glad to see. The word itself is from the Old English wilcuma, a—no surprise here—welcome guest. Wilcuma is a
combination of willa—pleasure or
desire—and cuma—guest. Those are also
the origin words for will (not
well) and come.
“Will come” is like saying “invited”
and that’s the meaning wilcuma had when it was first recorded in the 1530’s. It
wasn’t a polite reply until 1907. “No problem” is linguistic evolution, just
like “you’re welcome” was last century.
The issue seems to be that “No
problem” turns the focus from the thanker to the thankee by saying “It’s no
problem for me to do what you asked” rather than “I’m glad I could help you.”
I’m not sure why this would be. Why can’t “No problem” mean the same as “You’re
welcome”? The latter certainly did not have that meaning two hundred years
ago—saying it in reply to “Thank you” would be nonsensical.
I’m honestly not sure why I say “No
problem” rather than “You’re welcome.” It just sounds right to my ears. See,
I’m someone who worries about bothering people. I hate to ask for things. So
when someone asks me for something, I
tell them it’s no trouble for me because that’s what I’d like to hear in the
same situation.
The problem is that you may not
think the same way I do. It may come off as rude, but in terms of
acknowledgment of thanks, “No problem” is no less steeped in meaning or
response than “You’re welcome,” “No worries,” “Don’t mention it” or “It’s
nothing”.
There’s no call for insulted
replies, either. What if someone says “No problem” and others retort with
“Well, it shouldn’t be a problem!” Is that any different if someone says
“You’re welcome” and the reply is, “Well, I’m glad I’m welcome here or I can’t
do my job!”?
What do you think? Is “no problem”
really a problem? Should this even be a point of contention among people?
Big
surprise, I think an etymology post is my best one : ). It’s good because it’s
a mix of my two favorite kinds of posts: rants and word origins. It manages to
be informative as well as interesting. Or maybe I’m just kidding myself with
that.
