| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
gang ah jee
Joined: 14 Jan 2003
Location: city of paper
|
 Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 4:03 am Post subject: |
 |
|
| Adults don't tend use 'please' very much in English - it actually has the effect of strengthening requests, making it less polite. More common and polite in English are biclausal structures - eg. 'Could I get a glass of water?' vs. 'Give me a glass of water please.' |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Qinella
Joined: 25 Feb 2005
Location: the crib
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 4:25 am Post subject: |
|
|
| gang ah jee wrote: |
| Adults don't tend use 'please' very much in English - it actually has the effect of strengthening requests, making it less polite. More common and polite in English are biclausal structures - eg. 'Could I get a glass of water?' vs. 'Give me a glass of water please.' |
Badabing. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Muffin
Joined: 01 Mar 2006
Location: Turkey
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 6:21 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
In the US, some people make fun of English folks for being too polite. Maybe it's not true. But a sample joke phrase goes like this: Excuse me sire, I'm terribly sorry to bother you, but, if it isn't too much trouble, could you possibly pass the jam?
|
Well in the UK we have jokes about Americans saying 'Have a nice day!' all the time and do they really say 'missing you already'? Or is that an exaggeration?
I can't comment on the OP's observations as I hardly meet any NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS here, although I agree with him that the two little words 'please' and 'thank you' are most important. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jajdude
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 8:06 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I don't know. I probably haven't really noticed what other foreigners say or do. Seems like everyone quickly learns "jusayo" and other "sayo" or "yo" expressions, and "Kamsamida," and says them regularly, mainly for buying stuff or any act of kindness or politeness. I use them all the time without thinking about it. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
billybrobby
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 9:55 am Post subject: |
|
|
| ilovebdt wrote: |
You guys have completely misunderstood my post. I am talking about Native English Speakers!! 
And yes I do know enough Korean to know there isn't a word for "please" and that to be polite people add "yo" to the end of words etc.
ilovebdt |
if you know there isn't a word for please then why would you bring up please? i'm not sure what you want people to do. start using more jondaetmal? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
billybrobby
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 9:59 am Post subject: |
|
|
| gang ah jee wrote: |
| Adults don't tend use 'please' very much in English - it actually has the effect of strengthening requests, making it less polite. More common and polite in English are biclausal structures - eg. 'Could I get a glass of water?' vs. 'Give me a glass of water please.' |
and man, I wish Koreans would learn this. I worked with this lady who seemed to think she could say anything to me and make it polite by adding 'please' to it. It sounded so rude to me, like the 'please' was implying that i'm some kind of incompetent idiot who needs to be begged to do the job right. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ilovebdt
Joined: 03 Jun 2005
Location: Nr Seoul
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 3:54 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| RACETRAITOR wrote: |
| Alright, if you're talking about foreigners, that's completely different. I think we all have to adapt to people saying sorry less when we're just walking around. If I bump somebody I don't say anything to them. Maybe that's the first step in becoming an ass with no manners. |
Or maybe you are becoming Korean, cos I am guilty of doing that too 
ilovebdt |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
potblackettle
Joined: 23 Aug 2006
Location: South Korea
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 4:01 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Yeah...
My great-grandmother used to whack you with a wooden spoon if you didn't say please and thank you.
To this day if I don't say them I feel the urge to doge.
So it's easier to just be polite. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ilovebdt
Joined: 03 Jun 2005
Location: Nr Seoul
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 5:13 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| potblackettle wrote: |
Yeah...
My great-grandmother used to whack you with a wooden spoon if you didn't say please and thank you.
To this day if I don't say them I feel the urge to doge.
So it's easier to just be polite. |
LOL  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Pyongshin Sangja
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Location: I love baby!
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 8:47 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| Adults don't tend use 'please' very much in English - it actually has the effect of strengthening requests, making it less polite. More common and polite in English are biclausal structures - eg. 'Could I get a glass of water?' vs. 'Give me a glass of water please.' |
You're alive!
And I say please all the time.
I am a very polite person, you know.
| Quote: |
I discovered this when I lived in the US. They don't use please or thankyou.
They'll say 'give me a....'
I found it rude at first but eventually got used to it. |
I agree. I hear the GI's say it all the time in Itaewon. "Give me a...." or "I'll get a..."
Never please. Thank you, maybe. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
periwinkle
Joined: 08 Feb 2003
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 10:09 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I went to Greece as an exchange student, and after a couple of weeks, my host brother and sister told me to stop saying thank you, and that I sounded like a broken record. It was really weird to them. My host brother came back to the states with me, and I told him he'd better pick up the thanking habit real quick, especially because he was going to the south, or Ar Kansas, as he said... I don't know what happened to him, but I hope he got his ass whupped, the way he went on about having the "prettiest" eyes in all of Greece *puke* |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Roch
Joined: 24 Apr 2003
Location: Seoul
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 6:13 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Pyongshin Sangja wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Adults don't tend use 'please' very much in English - it actually has the effect of strengthening requests, making it less polite. More common and polite in English are biclausal structures - eg. 'Could I get a glass of water?' vs. 'Give me a glass of water please.' |
You're alive!
And I say please all the time.
I am a very polite person, you know.
| Quote: |
I discovered this when I lived in the US. They don't use please or thankyou.
They'll say 'give me a....'
I found it rude at first but eventually got used to it. |
I agree. I hear the GI's say it all the time in Itaewon. "Give me a...." or "I'll get a..."
Never please. Thank you, maybe. |
Interesting. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
pegpig
Joined: 10 May 2005
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 12:24 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Muffin wrote: |
Well in the UK we have jokes about Americans saying 'Have a nice day!' all the time and do they really say 'missing you already'? Or is that an exaggeration?
|
"Missing you already". I can't remember ever hearing that one, but then I'm Canadian. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
pegpig
Joined: 10 May 2005
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 12:25 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| billybrobby wrote: |
| ilovebdt wrote: |
You guys have completely misunderstood my post. I am talking about Native English Speakers!!
And yes I do know enough Korean to know there isn't a word for "please" and that to be polite people add "yo" to the end of words etc.
ilovebdt |
if you know there isn't a word for please then why would you bring up please? i'm not sure what you want people to do. start using more jondaetmal? |
Whoosh! Does 'airplane flying over head' motion. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
SPINOZA
Joined: 10 Jun 2005
Location: $eoul
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2006 6:00 am Post subject: |
|
|
| gang ah jee wrote: |
| Adults don't tend use 'please' very much in English - it actually has the effect of strengthening requests, making it less polite. More common and polite in English are biclausal structures - eg. 'Could I get a glass of water?' vs. 'Give me a glass of water please.' |
That's definiteely a North American thing.
To me (Brit), "can I get a beer?" is not polite in the least.
My NA friends say that all the time and always I feel like saying (sometimes do say) "maybe it'd be better if you said please".
Then again, my friend in Korea (American) thinks I'm the rudest, most uncivilized person he's ever met (which of course to me is the ultimate compliment). Not because I don't say please and thank you, but rather because I'm loud and swear a lot. You know when it's 3am and you're drunk, rowdy, foul-mouthed and obnoxious? Well that's me at 11am sober apparently. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
