thank you

See also: thankyou and thank-you

English

A “thank you” sign being held up at a conference in Taiwan in 2014

Etymology

From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#THANKYOUCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#THANKYOU thanke yow; as with thank God, praise be to God, and praise the Lord, it was originally a present subjunctive form but is usually not parsed that way in current usage. It has also sometimes been parsed as a prodrop form of (present indicative) I thank you, a mechanism that may plausibly coexist with the other one (instances being variable).

Pronunciation

Interjection

thank youCategory:English lemmas#THANKYOUCategory:English interjections#THANKYOUCategory:English multiword terms#THANKYOUCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#THANKYOUCategory:Pages with entries#THANK%20YOUCategory:Pages with 2 entries#THANK%20YOU

  1. An expression of gratitude or politeness in response to something done or given. [from c. 1400]
    Thank you!” said the girl after her mom gave her a gift.Category:English terms with usage examples#THANKYOU
    “And thank you for being so sweet,” replied her mom.Category:English terms with usage examples#THANKYOU
    • 1711, attributed to John Fletcher, “Bonduca, a Tragedy”, in The Works of Mr. Francis Beaumont, and Mr. John Fletcher, volume IV, London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, at Shakespear's Head over-against Catherine-street in the Strand, →OCLC, act I, scene ii, page 2194:
      Jun[ius] [] The General has new Wine, new come over. / He muſt have new Acquaintance for it too, / For I will none, I thank ye. / Pet[ilus] None, I thank ye? / A short and touchy answer. None, I thank ye: / Ye do not scorn it, do ye?
      Category:English terms with quotations#THANKYOU
    • 1826 April 22, “G.”, “The Dukedom (from ‘The News of Literature and Fashion, Science and Art.’)”, in The Spirit of the Times; or, Essence of the Periodicals; Concentrating Every Week, All that is Worthy (as Strictly Regarding the Time) of Being Preserved, from the Whole of Our Newspapers, Magazines, &c., volume I, number XXIX, London: Printed by Milne, Banfield, and Duckworth [...] for J. Scott, →OCLC, page 436, column 1:
      I had some faint recollection of having a penny-piece in my waistcoat pocket, and, pleased with the service he had rendered to us, I gave it him as his guerdon. "Thank ye, sir—thank ye, sir—thank ye, sir," he cried, and immediately returned to his station near the footway.
      Category:English terms with quotations#THANKYOU
    • 1925 May 14, Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway, London: Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, →OCLC:
      "But, thank you, Lucy, oh, thank you," said Mrs. Dalloway, and thank you, thank you, she went on saying (sitting down on the sofa with her dress over her knees, her scissors, her silks), thank you, thank you, she went on saying in gratitude to her servants generally for helping her to be like this, to be what she wanted, gentle, generous-hearted.
      Category:English terms with quotations#THANKYOU
    • 1977 December 12, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, “Thank You for the Music”, in ABBA: The Album, performed by ABBA:
      Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing / Thanks for all the joy they're bringing / Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty / What would life be? / Without a song or a dance what are we? / So I say thank you for the music / For giving it to me
      Category:English terms with quotations#THANKYOU
    • 2002, Bill Boyd, “Striking a Deal”, in Stepdaddy: A Creative Memoir, Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, →ISBN, page 96:
      Thank ya, ma'am, thank ya, thank ya, thank ya. He's a good dog. He likes ever'body. He won' be no bother. Thank ya, ma'am, thank ya, thank ya.
      Category:English terms with quotations#THANKYOU
    • 2007, Jerry Goodwin, “Thank You”, in Thank You: One of Seventeen Rules …: Wonderful for Men and Women of All Ages, [Philadelphia, Pa.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 19:
      Always say "thank you." When in doubt, say "thank you." Say "thank you" even if you think it is not necessary in the circumstances. Whether the recipient thinks it is or is not, it will be appreciated and remembered. It is impossible to say "thank you" too often!
      Category:English terms with quotations#THANKYOU
    • 2014 February, Colin McEvoy, Lynn Olanoff, chapter 13, in Fatal Jealousy: The True Story of a Doomed Romance, a Singular Obsession, and a Quadruple Murder (St. Martin's True Crime Library), New York, N.Y.: St. Martin's Paperbacks, →ISBN, page 136:
      His return text came about an hour later. "I Love you … For all the right reasons," he wrote. "And I'm glad 2 know u feel the true love u have 4 me again … Thank u!! You make me feel like i really am superman!!"
      Category:English terms with quotations#THANKYOU
    • 2014, Roy Williams, Kingston 14, London; New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, →ISBN, act II, page 71:
      Adrian Shush. / Carl Thank yu. / Adrian Fer what? / Carl Fer staying. / Adrian Man tell mi to. Nuh thank mi. But you must shush.
      Category:English terms with quotations#THANKYOU
  2. (often with yes) Used as a polite affirmative to accept an offer.
    Near-synonym: please
    —May I help you? —Yes, thank you.
    Category:English terms with usage examples#THANKYOU
    —May I help you?Thank you.
    Category:English terms with usage examples#THANKYOU
  3. A polite dismissal; usually used in professional contexts.

Usage notes

Can also be used in response to an offer not accepted, as if standing for no thank you. For example, someone offered a bowl full of strawberries after having already eaten a hearty meal might respond with I'm full, thank you.

Alternative forms

Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

Noun

thank you (plural thank yous)Category:English lemmas#THANKYOUCategory:English nouns#THANKYOUCategory:English countable nouns#THANKYOUCategory:English multiword terms#THANKYOUCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#THANKYOUCategory:Pages with entries#THANK%20YOUCategory:Pages with 2 entries#THANK%20YOU

  1. Alternative spelling of thank-you.

Further reading

  • Jennifer Runner (14 August 2016), “‘Thank you’ in more than 465 languages”, in Jennifer's Language Pages – Greetings in More Than 3000 Languages, archived from the original on 21 October 2016.
Category:English expressions of gratitude#THANKYOU

Chinese

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from EnglishCategory:Cantonese terms borrowed from English#THANK%20YOUCategory:Cantonese terms derived from English#THANK%20YOU thank you.

Pronunciation


Category:Chinese lemmas#thankyouCategory:Cantonese lemmas#thankyouCategory:Chinese verbs#thankyouCategory:Cantonese verbs#thankyouCategory:Chinese terms with IPA pronunciation#thankyouCategory:Chinese terms written in foreign scripts#thankyou

Verb

thank youCategory:Chinese lemmas#THANK%20YOUCategory:Chinese verbs#THANK%20YOUCategory:Chinese entries with incorrect language header#THANK%20YOUCategory:Pages with entries#THANK%20YOUCategory:Pages with 2 entries#THANK%20YOU

  1. (Hong Kong CantoneseCategory:Hong Kong Cantonese#THANK%20YOU, sometimes humorousCategory:Chinese humorous terms#THANK%20YOU) to thank; to be grateful to
    thank you [Cantonese]   feng1 kiu4 nei5 [Jyutping]   thank youCategory:Cantonese terms with usage examples

Synonyms

Category:American Sign Language terms in nonstandard scripts Category:Amharic terms with non-redundant manual transliterations Category:Assyrian Neo-Aramaic terms with non-redundant manual transliterations Category:Assyrian Neo-Aramaic terms with redundant transliterations Category:Cantonese lemmas Category:Cantonese terms borrowed from English Category:Cantonese terms derived from English Category:Cantonese terms with quotations Category:Cantonese terms with redundant transliterations Category:Cantonese terms with usage examples Category:Cantonese verbs Category:Cherokee terms with redundant transliterations Category:Chinese humorous terms Category:Chinese lemmas Category:Chinese terms with IPA pronunciation Category:Chinese terms written in foreign scripts Category:Chinese verbs Category:Eastern Min terms with redundant transliterations Category:English countable nouns Category:English expressions of gratitude Category:English interjections Category:English lemmas Category:English multiword terms Category:English nouns Category:English phrasebook Category:English terms derived from Middle English Category:English terms inherited from Middle English Category:English terms with IPA pronunciation Category:English terms with audio pronunciation Category:English terms with quotations Category:English terms with usage examples Category:Entries with translation boxes Category:Greek links with redundant wikilinks Category:Hong Kong Cantonese Category:Malaynon terms in nonstandard scripts Category:Mandarin terms with non-redundant manual transliterations Category:Pages with 2 entries Category:Pages with entries Category:Punjabi terms with non-redundant manual transliterations Category:Requests for attention concerning Northern Khanty Category:Requests for attention concerning Northern Mansi Category:Requests for review of British Sign Language translations Category:Requests for review of Northern Khanty translations Category:Requests for review of Northern Mansi translations Category:Requests for review of Paraguayan Guarani translations Category:Requests for review of Sanskrit translations Category:Requests for review of Tz'utujil translations Category:Requests for translations into Kashmiri Category:Requests for translations into Northern Thai Category:Requests for translations into Shan Category:Requests for translations into Situ Category:Terms with Abkhaz translations Category:Terms with Acehnese translations Category:Terms with Adangme translations Category:Terms with Afar translations Category:Terms with Afrikaans translations Category:Terms with Ainu translations Category:Terms with Akan translations Category:Terms with Aklanon translations Category:Terms with Albanian translations Category:Terms with Alemannic German translations Category:Terms with Aleut translations Category:Terms with Alutiiq translations Category:Terms with Ambonese Malay translations Category:Terms with American Sign Language translations Category:Terms with 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