📕 Part 1: Saying thank you

Why do people need to say thank you?

Well, I suppose it's a nice way to show you appreciate something that someone's done for you, but without the commitment of buying something like a gift. Not everything has to be so resource-intensive, does it? I don't know if they need to do it, but it's certainly expected.

On what occasions do you say thank you?

Oh, wow. It would be easier to say when I don't, to be honest. I always try to be polite to people, especially if they help me out, even in a minor way. And so that could be anything like when they hold the door or let me pass them in a street with minimal fuss.

Do people in your country often say thank you?

I think so. They certainly seem to when I make the effort to give them a hand, although certain older people seem to think that people in general are less thankful than before. Maybe it was different back then. I have no idea.

Have you ever sent a thank-you card to others?

Oh, God. Well, I must have at some point, I suppose, though I can't remember exactly when. I think it might have been when I left… Yeah, I left one of my friends after she let me stay with her for a few weeks, and that was really nice of her. So I think I probably sent something then. And if I didn't, I would have at least given her a goodbye present. And if not, then I can say it now. Thank you, Cheeway, for letting me stay with you when I was in Kyrgyzstan doing different things.

So, dear listener, yeah… Thank you! Do you like this topic? A very interesting topic…

It’s a weird one!

It is a weird one, yeah…But it’s universal, and I think everyone all over the world says “thank you” at least once in their life, right? I think we do say thank you every day, huh? We do it every day. Do you, dear listener? Actually, it's a good meditation practice. Before you go to sleep, you should thank somebody or be thankful for what you have and pronounce it out loud or to yourself. Yeah, so we say thank you. And an adjective, Rory, what's an adjective from thank?

To be thankful.

Yeah, we are thankful and the preposition for something?

Yeah, you could also be grateful and show gratitude for something. It occurs to me that I didn't quite say that.

Another synonym is be grateful. So I'm so grateful to you. I'm so thankful for. And thanks is an expression of gratitude. So when you say thank you, you express your gratitude to someone. It's a nice way to show that you appreciate something. So you like something, you value something, you appreciate something or someone. So, someone has done something for you, and you appreciate it. So you are grateful, and you express your gratitude. And without any commitment of buying something like a gift. So no gifts, we use words. On what occasions do you say thank you? Like, when, after what do you usually say thank you? Occasions like events or situations. And Rory lives in Scotland. He's from Scotland, so he's pretty much British, and we know that in those countries, people usually say thank you, thank you, thank you. Sorry, sorry, sorry. So these are like two words - Thank you, and sorry that they might overuse them, they use them far too often.

How often is too often?

Hmm, a good question. Yeah, but it depends on the country, right? In certain countries, people say thank you all the time for nothing, right?But in other countries, they don't. And I'm usually quite… I find it rude if a person doesn't say thank you when I give a present, for example.

Yeah, you should say thank you.

Yeah, but some people don't. It's just rude. Like what? Like, I give you something, even if you don't like it, at least say thank you. So don't do that, dear listener. If someone gives you something, just say thank you. To be polite, you see, to be nice, to be friendly. So if a person helps out, so if a person helps me out, helps me, I usually say thank you. And then you can give some examples. If a person holds a door for me. So you are entering a shop and then a person holds the door for you, you say thank you. Or if they let me pass them, right?

Yeah, if you let me go past.

You are on the street, and if you let me past them, I kind of go past them on the street, so I say thank you. For presents, like what else? Compliments, all right? So if I say, like, oh, Rory, you look gorgeous today.

Maria has never said that in her entire life, but if she did, then I would say thank you.

No, come on. I did say that you look stylish.

I know, I know. I'm just joking.

So, yeah, Rory, you look gorgeous. And then Rory says, oh, thank you. I appreciate it. Also, we often say I appreciate it. Like, thank you. Or cheers, for example. Yeah, people say cheers. Like, thanks. Cheers. Oh, that's so kind of you. You can also say, like, thank you. That's so kind of you. Your support means a lot to me. Such nice things, huh? So in your country, dear listener, how often do people say thank you? Is it in your culture to thank people, to be grateful to other people? So when I make an effort to give them a hand, give a hand, help people. So when I help people, when I help out other people, they usually say thank you. Older people are less thankful than before in my country.

Well, older people think that people in general are less thankful than before. I did say that, except for the older people. I'm sure some older people don't really care about this kind of thing. But I think it's the opinion of many older people that we are less thankful or less grateful. But I don't know. I don't see this.

Yeah, maybe in your country, like, young people, teenagers are less thankful than before. Yeah, and the other day, you know, I was sitting on the bench and there were many teenagers around me, like, talking. Oh, my God, Rory. I was like, I was listening to what they were saying. I was looking at what they were wearing. Wow. I was a bit scared. Wow, you guys are scary. Oh, because they were talking very loudly and they were using really bad words. Some of them were fighting.

Well, that's about being impolite or not regarding other people's feelings. That's not about saying thank you.

We can send a thank-you card to other people. So, I've never sent any thank-you cards or a thank-you email, for example. So, have you ever sent a thank-you card? If you've never done it, you can talk about thank-you emails or a thank-you message. Because usually we just write messages on Telegram, WhatsApp. So, you can say that I usually write to my friends to thank them. So, kind of, oh, I can't remember doing that. So, I think it's kind of, it's a thing of the past, right? When we used to send thank you cards.

Well, letter writing in general will be. But just because it's a thing of the past doesn't mean to say people don't do it. I certainly have, but I can't remember when.

Yeah, for example, someone helped you out, or someone let you stay with you for some time, and then you left a thank you card for them. And it's a special postcard.

Very important to point out the grammar. I said, I must have at some point, and it might have been. So, if you're not sure, you can use this more complex grammar to express the idea that we are not so sure about things.

Yeah, and you can say that, yeah, I wrote to my friends, like, thank you for giving me this dress. Thank you for helping me. And, Rory, do you remember any situations when, like, someone thanked you really, like, nicely?

Yes, actually, two years ago, when I was in the middle of doing my Delta and I did it in a school in Turkey. And a whole load of students came up to me at one point in the middle of the school, and they asked me if I was who I was. And I said, yes. And they were like, thank you so much for the podcast. If we didn't have it, then we wouldn't get the marks that we need. And I was like, oh, thank you. That's really nice to hear. And this was completely unsolicited. I went to that school and I never told them anything about what I did. I just said, oh, I'm an English teacher. I just want to be here to do my Delta. And that's all, no drama. And still, the recognition happens, and people come up and say thank you. That's nice.

It's fame. They recognised your voice. Nice.

It was so funny. It was so strange.

Nice.

But it was also extremely nice. So if you are the students who thanked me, then you're very welcome. And hopefully things are going well.

Yay. So, dear listener, a very nice, cute, warm topic of saying thank you. Yeah, you can read some articles on the Internet about gratitude, expressing gratitude. And yeah, I don't have a thank-you joke. Rory, do you have a thank you joke?

No, but thank you for listening.

How about thanks a buttload?

No, no buts.

Thank you so much for listening, dear listener. Thank you for listening to this thank you episode. We are forever thankful for all your listening. Bye. Make sure to subscribe to our social media to see some of the “behind the scenes” stuff: Our Instagram: bit.ly/instagramswi Our Telegram: bit.ly/telegramswi