| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
ilovebdt
Joined: 03 Jun 2005
Location: Nr Seoul
|
 Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 10:42 pm Post subject: Saying please and thank you |
 |
|
Maybe it is because I have just got back from the UK or maybe I am just becoming an old fart.
Out and about in Seoul I have noticed that a lot of NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS don't use those two magical words Please or Thank you anymore either in Korean or English whether speaking to friends or to shopkeepers etc.
In my family, if you didn't use either of those words there would be hell to pay.
Is it just me or is having good manners a thing of the past?
ilovebdt
Last edited by ilovebdt on Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:32 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
laogaiguk
Joined: 06 Dec 2005
Location: somewhere in Korea
|
| Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 10:57 pm Post subject: Re: Saying please and thank you |
|
|
*nothing to see here*
Last edited by laogaiguk on Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:34 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
|
| Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:26 pm Post subject: Re: Saying please and thank you |
|
|
| There are several words in Korean for "thanks." They may not have a word for "please" but they do have several complicated honorifics that make up for it. I'm sure they think we're strange for not having honorifics. Maybe you just didn't realise they speak another language? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ilovebdt
Joined: 03 Jun 2005
Location: Nr Seoul
|
| Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:32 pm Post subject: |
|
|
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
Last edited by ilovebdt on Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:34 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
laogaiguk
Joined: 06 Dec 2005
Location: somewhere in Korea
|
| Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:33 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| ilovebdt wrote: |
You guys have completely misunderstood my post. I am talking about Native English Speakers!!
ilovebdt |
I suggest going back and editing that into your OP then. That changes things significantly. But I reread your OP, and I am sure almost everybody would have thought the same thing as me  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Qinella
Joined: 25 Feb 2005
Location: the crib
|
| Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:41 pm Post subject: Re: Saying please and thank you |
|
|
| RACETRAITOR wrote: |
| Maybe you just didn't realise they speak another language? |
Haha that made me laugh suddenly. Absurdity at its best.
ilovebdt, people in Korea (and Seoul) do tend to be very polite to strangers in the way they speak. Requests and commands are usually spoken in such a way as to esteem the listener. Not always, of course, but I'd say it's done with a comparable or even higher frequency than in the South (US).
Saying thank you all the time is something Koreans don't do. Some people do. Like my friend who always refers to himself as a 유쾌남. But in general, it's not said as often as in English. I still do it, but feel a little silly because I know it's not normal in Korea to say thanks to shopkeepers for giving you something you paid for. They should be the ones saying thanks (which they don't  ).
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, I have a feeling that may be an exaggeration.
Q. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ilovebdt
Joined: 03 Jun 2005
Location: Nr Seoul
|
| Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:44 pm Post subject: Re: Saying please and thank you |
|
|
| Qinella wrote: |
| RACETRAITOR wrote: |
| Maybe you just didn't realise they speak another language? |
Haha that made me laugh suddenly. Absurdity at its best.
ilovebdt, people in Korea (and Seoul) do tend to be very polite to strangers in the way they speak. Requests and commands are usually spoken in such a way as to esteem the listener. Not always, of course, but I'd say it's done with a comparable or even higher frequency than in the South (US).
Saying thank you all the time is something Koreans don't do. Some people do. Like my friend who always refers to himself as a 유쾌남. But in general, it's not said as often as in English. I still do it, but feel a little silly because I know it's not normal in Korea to say thanks to shopkeepers for giving you something you paid for. They should be the ones saying thanks (which they don't ).
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, I have a feeling that may be an exaggeration.
Q. |
I am not talking about Koreans!!!!!!! I am talking about native English speakers.
I am just talking about saying please and thank you. Literally those two little words. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
laogaiguk
Joined: 06 Dec 2005
Location: somewhere in Korea
|
| Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:48 pm Post subject: Re: Saying please and thank you |
|
|
| ilovebdt wrote: |
I am not talking about Koreans!!!!!!! I am talking about native English speakers.
I am just talking about saying please and thank you. Literally those two little words. |
Stop giving us the rolly eyes. It was your mistake. 3 people responded to your first post because you worded it bad. I deleted my post when I realized what you meant, and Qinella probably started his reply before you changed it to Native Speakers. It's your fault, not mine or Qinella's. Now that it is changed, you will probably find no one responds incorrectly anymore. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jinju
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
|
| Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:49 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Sorry, your op was really poorply worded. I thought like everyone else you were talking about Koreans.
But say you were talking about NETs it still doesnt make sense
| Quote: |
| Out and about in Seoul I have noticed that a lot of NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS don't use those two magical words Please or Thank you anymore either in Korean or English whether speaking to friends or to shopkeepers etc. |
because as everyone said, there really isnt a word for please in Korean and ploiteness is expressed not in words like please or thank you but in levels of speech. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ilovebdt
Joined: 03 Jun 2005
Location: Nr Seoul
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 12:00 am Post subject: Re: Saying please and thank you |
|
|
| laogaiguk wrote: |
| ilovebdt wrote: |
I am not talking about Koreans!!!!!!! I am talking about native English speakers.
I am just talking about saying please and thank you. Literally those two little words. |
Stop giving us the rolly eyes. It was your mistake. 3 people responded to your first post because you worded it bad. I deleted my post when I realized what you meant, and Qinella probably started his reply before you changed it to Native Speakers. It's your fault, not mine or Qinella's. Now that it is changed, you will probably find no one responds incorrectly anymore. |
Ok, apologies to Quinella he may have posted before I had changed the text to say Native English Speakers.
ilovebdt |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Qinella
Joined: 25 Feb 2005
Location: the crib
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 12:01 am Post subject: Re: Saying please and thank you |
|
|
| ilovebdt wrote: |
| I am not talking about Koreans!!!!!!! |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
laogaiguk
Joined: 06 Dec 2005
Location: somewhere in Korea
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 12:01 am Post subject: Re: Saying please and thank you |
|
|
| ilovebdt wrote: |
| laogaiguk wrote: |
| ilovebdt wrote: |
I am not talking about Koreans!!!!!!! I am talking about native English speakers.
I am just talking about saying please and thank you. Literally those two little words. |
Stop giving us the rolly eyes. It was your mistake. 3 people responded to your first post because you worded it bad. I deleted my post when I realized what you meant, and Qinella probably started his reply before you changed it to Native Speakers. It's your fault, not mine or Qinella's. Now that it is changed, you will probably find no one responds incorrectly anymore. |
Ok, apologies to Quinella he may have posted before I had changed the text to say Native English Speakers.
ilovebdt |
Damn you for being mature. I had this comeback just waiting, "And it looks like people aren't capable of saying sorry anymore either."
Seriously, that would have been great, you had to ruin it by saying sorry |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ilovebdt
Joined: 03 Jun 2005
Location: Nr Seoul
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 12:05 am Post subject: Re: Saying please and thank you |
|
|
| Qinella wrote: |
| ilovebdt wrote: |
| I am not talking about Koreans!!!!!!! |
|
Not this time  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 12:25 am Post subject: |
|
|
| 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. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
JLarter
Joined: 17 Apr 2006
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 2:28 am Post subject: |
|
|
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. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
