# de rien, il n'y a pas de quoi



## Plouf

Hi all,

I would like to know if it's another way to say you're welcome? (a way which is more fast to say)

Like Cheers instead of Thank you...

Thanks in advance


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## Randisi.

A: Thanks!

B: Anytime!


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## Plouf

Hi Randisi ..

Something is wired for me...

You can reply to somebody who says "Thanks" by "Thanks" (again?)


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## JeanDeSponde

_My pleasure_


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## Agent Literary

"No worries."
"No problem."
"No prob(s)."

These are all informal though - you wouldn't say them to your teacher or a policeman, for example.


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## ascoltate

Don't say "cheers" in the America instead of "thank you"--I hear it on occasion (mostly from people that have travelled to the U.K.), but it sounds incredibly pretentious if you understand it (and I would guess that most American wouldn't).

My usual answer to "Thanks" would be "No problem"... you can also say "Don't mention it" (or "Any time", as suggested above)...


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## Plouf

Ok merci JeanDeSponde mais c'est adapté a tout le monde? Ce que je veux dire c'est que je peux dire cela par exemple a ma boss comme a mes amis?


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## ascoltate

JeanDeSponde said:


> _My pleasure_



This one works quite well in the service industry, but it sounds too formal to use with friends. Although it does sound like something a little old lady might say...


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## Plouf

Ok ok good thing to know if i travel around the US 

Thnaks a lot all !


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## JeanDeSponde

ascoltate said:


> [...]but it sounds too formal to use with friends. Although it does sound like something a little old lady might say...


Comme on dit en français, me voilà habillé pour l'hiver !
I'll have to update my never-to-be-used-again-expressions database...


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## LMorland

Plouf said:


> Ce que je veux dire c'est que je peux dire cela par exemple a ma boss comme a mes amis?


Why not just say _"You're welcome"_?  It has exactly as many syllables as _"no problem,"_ and you can't go wrong: you're friends won't think twice about it, and your boss will think you are well brought up!

Personally, I cringe every time someone responds _ "no problem". _ To me, "no problem" means,_ "Hey, I wasn't making an effort,"_  and seems to negate the thanks I just gave.

I admit that these days, in the U.S., the generalized casual response to thanks is _"no problem,"_ and the more polite response is _"thank you!"  _ I'm so glad I live in France most of the time, where people aren't ashamed to say,_ "Je vous en prie"!_


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## ascoltate

JeanDeSponde said:


> Comme on dit en français, me voilà habillé pour l'hiver !
> I'll have to update my never-to-be-used-again-expressions database...



Well, don't do that. There are contexts where it would be appropriate (like if you worked in a store).
But it also sounds very exaggerated. So, if you did a huge favor for someone (like cleaned out their house all day) and someone said "Thank you", it might be appropriate to say "My pleasure". Or if you wanted to mockingly pretend you did something great.
But I would say if a nonnative speaker used it it would go into that file of cute-things-nonnative-speakers say...

It's kind of like if me or a French person says "Je vous en prie" in Québec...


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## LMorland

ascoltate said:


> It's kind of like if I (or a French person) would say "Je vous en prie" in Québec...


Que disent les Québecois, alors ?


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## ascoltate

LMorland said:


> Que disent les Québecois, alors ?



Bienvenue  (yes, very confusing at first...)
ou
De rien


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## LMorland

Yesterday someone said _you're welcome _to me in an unexpected manner, and I just had to share it with this thread.

J'étais dans le souterrain de la gare de Narbonne, alourdie de trois sacs à main et à dos, en plus du panier du chat, et j'avais commencé de monter l'escalier avec ma grosse valise lorsqu'un jeune homme dans sa vingtaine m'a offerte de la porter.

Lorsque nous sommes arrivés en haut de l'escalier, je l'ai remercié. Il m'a répondu (avec un beau sourire), *S'il vous plaît !*


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## broglet

Plouf said:


> You can reply to somebody who says "Thanks" by "Thanks" (again?)


No, Plouf - we don't do this. Although if you want to translate "C'est moi (qui vous remercie)" you could say. "Not at all; thank _you"_


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## JeanDeSponde

LMorland said:


> [...]
> Lorsque nous sommes arrivés en haut de l'escalier, je l'ai remercié. Il m'a répondu (avec un beau sourire), *S'il vous plaît !*


Yes, it may happen.
I think I've heard it mainly in restaurant, from waiters - just the same: e.g. they bring some bread, you say _merci !_, and they answer _s'il vous plaît !_.


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## LMorland

broglet said:


> No, Plouf - we don't do this. Although if you want to translate "C'est moi (qui vous remercie)" you could say. "Not at all; thank _you"_


It's easy to hear this response on American talk shows.  On NPR's _Fresh Air, _for example, when the host thanks her guests at the end of the segment, you'll inevitably hear them reply, "Thank you, Terry!"  I've been paying close attention to this topic for years, and it's very rare that a guest varies from this formula.


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## Blancheneige

What about answering "That's all right" ? When I was at school, I was taught that "You're welcome" was AE and "That's all right" was BE. 
I know "You're welcome" is used everywhere nowadays, but was this (at one time) true ?


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## broglet

Blancheneige said:


> What about answering "That's all right" ? When I was at school, I was taught that "You're welcome" was AE and "That's all right" was BE.
> I know "You're welcome" is used everywhere nowadays, but was this (at one time) true ?


It's possible but not common. 'That's OK' is possibly used a little more. But the usual EE nowadays is one of the following:

_Don't mention it_
_It's a/my pleasure_
_(I'm) happy/pleased to help_
_No prob(lem)/worries_


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## LMorland

broglet said:


> But the usual EE nowadays is one of the following:
> 
> _Don't mention it_
> _It's a/my pleasure_
> _(I'm) happy/pleased to help_
> _No prob(lem)/worries_


I'm sorry to expose my ignorance, maybe it will help others to know, as well as me, what is EE?

And just for the record, the first three of broglet's list are common in AE; 'no problem' is all too common; but 'no worries' is strictly BE/Antipodean English.


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## broglet

LMorland said:


> I'm sorry to expose my ignorance, maybe it will help others to know, as well as me, what is EE?
> 
> And just for the record, the first three of broglet's list are common in AE; 'no problem' is all too common; but 'no worries' is strictly BE/Antipodean English.


It wasn't ignorant at all!  I use EE for English English (to distinguish it from the other varieties of British English: Welsh English, Scottish English and Irish English)


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## ascoltate

JeanDeSponde said:


> Yes, it may happen.
> I think I've heard it mainly in restaurant, from waiters - just the same: e.g. they bring some bread, you say _merci !_, and they answer _s'il vous plaît !_.



Well, isn't "s'il vous plaît" pretty common in Belgium as a response to "merci" ?? Maybe it's the influence from Flemish and German...

And I also heard "service" quite a bit in Switzerland (short for "à votre service" ?), but I'm not sure if it's limited to just there...


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## valskyfrance

I Only Heard "s Il Vous Plait" Dans Le Nord De La France
Ca Fait Bizarre Mais On S Y Fait


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## honeybfly

If you want a really short version you can say "s'ok" = it's ok. Which is a real abbreviation and you would probably only use it between friends. But you could say "it's ok" even in a formal environment, to a customer in a shop for example.


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## LMorland

valskyfrance said:


> I've only heard "s'il vous plait" dans le nord de la France. Ca fait bizarre mais on s'y fait.



Dear Valskyfrance,

Please see my experience in the south of France (Post #15 above).  

[Also, Valskyfrance, did you compose this message on your portable phone?  That might account for its bizarre appearance. (See how I remedied it above.) 

Frankly, I find it very hard to read a sentence in all 'Initial Caps', and I'm sure that others do, too! ]


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## valskyfrance

thanks LMORLAND
sorry for its bizarre appearance


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## Prudence86

ascoltate said:


> This one works quite well in the service industry, but it sounds too formal to use with friends. Although it does sound like something a little old lady might say...


 

No you can say "my pleasure", but don't say "any time" unless you really mean it. I usually just say you're welcome or you're very welcome when speaking to children. Things like "don't mention it" or "it's not a problem" are okay, but not something you say to your boss or someone of a higher rank/status at your job typically. Americans are usually a lot more casual with our speach, especially since we don't have to worry about tu/vous forms. Just use your best judgement and when in doubt just say the basic "you are welcome".


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## LMorland

Prudence86 said:


> ... when in doubt just say the basic "you are welcome".


One of my personal campaigns is to resuscitate _you're welcome_ (and thereby to quash the unpleasant _no prob'_], and I'm always happy to hear it said.  

And yet _you are welcome_ is, to my mind, _extremely_ rare.  I'd say that 99.99% of the time the formula is used in the contracted form _you're welcome _(occasionally with the added adverb: _you're very welcome_).

Opinions?


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## Pedro y La Torre

ascoltate said:


> Don't say "cheers" in the America instead of "thank you"--I hear it on occasion (mostly from people that have travelled to the U.K.), but it sounds incredibly pretentious if you understand it (and I would guess that most American wouldn't).
> 
> My usual answer to "Thanks" would be "No problem"... you can also say "Don't mention it" (or "Any time", as suggested above)...



English-speakers here in Canada try to use it with me, and they just can't master it. They stick in "cheers" in completely inappropriate places. 
Anyway, in an Irish context, you'd hear something like "no bother" a lot (not to be used in formal circumstances, obviously).


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## LMorland

Pedro y La Torre said:


> _n an Irish context, you'd hear something like "no bother" a lot (not to be used in formal circumstances, obviously)._


_Which is short for *It's no bother atall, *if my memories of Ireland are correct.

It may be worth adding here that the Australian father of my godson often says (the adorable, to my ears) *Ta!*

Funny about the cheers.  It's true, as an American I wouldn't dare to try to use it myself! _


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## blond2comet

Well, I have to say that I am sometimes confused by differences between British English and other english-speaking countries ... but that must be because, when I lived in London, I worked with a lot of South africans, Australians and New Zealanders!! So I guess I learnt a bit of everything from everyone!!!

My "southern hemisphere" friends indeed used a lot 'Ta' which I used before realising that BE thought that I was coming from South Africa!!!!


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