When networks have to bleep a presidential candidate, we’ve surpassed the George Carlin benchmarks of what can’t be publicly said. That’s as opposed to what should be normal discourse and is increasingly being rendered archaic.
When I wrote a blog-- The Martial Arts of Common Courtesy -- detailing how the “please and thank you” standard of good manners has devolved into the spoken equivalent of shoulder shrugs, the Fresno Bee published it as an op-ed. And readers amplified.
“I am exasperated by people, mostly young, who say ‘no problem’ as if they were incapable of uttering ‘you're welcome.’
“I'm damn tired, too, of being told to ‘have a good one’ instead of being thanked.” – Don Slinkard
“I cracked up reading your article. My husband and I have been irritated with the ‘no problem’ response for years. So our comment back is ‘Was there going to be a problem?’ Employers should educate employees on manners. Have a good day!” – Karen Miller
“I used to think I was perhaps the only who thought this was an issue for me. Call me ‘old school,’ but I do believe the ‘art of civility.’ When I say ‘thank you’ to the clerk, cashier, waitress or the person who held a door for me, the response is always, ‘no problem.’ How I would love to hear a ‘you're welcome,’ once in a while. Could this be generational?
“Another generational phrase that has been shortened is, ‘I'm sorry.’ On campus, I constantly hear students respond, ‘sorry.’ That is just a word without identifying who is sorry! I am teaching my grandchildren how important it is to have ownership, ‘I'm’ and for the issue, ‘I hurt your feelings; I hit you, etc.’
“As for your comments on customer service, I had an experience such as you described. Can't a manager see there is an issue with a customer, and respond ‘I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, mix-up, etc.?’ Whatever happened to ‘customer service? ´
“Yes, all those wonderful responses I grew up with: ‘Please,’ ‘thank you,’ ‘you're welcome’ and ‘I'm sorry,’ do matter. Perhaps with their return it might make our world kinder, gentler. -- Martha Magnia
“You are spot on: ‘No problem’ is definitely a problem. And so are some of the other absurdities that have sprung up recently, and which I staunchly condemn: ‘No problemo’ (a disgrace to Spanish and probably unique to California); ‘You guys’ (sad testimony to the lack of a second-person plural pronoun); ‘I’ve got your back’; and that terrible word ‘frigging.’
“The language is definitely under assault, and at extreme risk are the irregular preterits – to which scant attention is paid anymore. We are daily bombarded with such atrocities as “speeded, slayed, thrived, bidded, dived and pleaded” – all from sources who should know better. Where is Eric Partridge when we need him?
“Can we expect a future of, say, ‘eated, goed, flyed, thinked, sleeped’ and kindred horrors?
“Thank you for the response, Mr. Taylor. It’s a real pity that such a sorry fate has befallen so many verbs of long-standing and accepted irregularity. There is no end to which this theme could be enlarged.” -- Paul Watts