http://www.carla.

edu/speechacts/

What is a Speech Act?

We perform speech acts when we offer an apology, greeting, request, complaint,
invitation, compliment, or refusal. A speech act is an utterance that serves a function
in communication. A speech act might contain just one word, as in "Sorry!" to perform
an apology, or several words or sentences: "I’m sorry I forgot your birthday. I just let
it slip my mind." Speech acts include real-life interactions and require not only
knowledge of the language but also appropriate use of that language within a given
culture.

Here are some examples of speech acts we use or hear every day:

Greeting: "Hi, Eric. How are things going?"

Request: "Could you pass me the mashed potatoes, please?"

Complaint: "I’ve already been waiting three weeks for the computer, and I was told
it would be delivered within a week."

Invitation: "We’re having some people over Saturday evening and wanted to know
if you’d like to join us."

Compliment: "Hey, I really like your tie!"

Refusal: "Oh, I’d love to see that movie with you but this Friday just isn’t going to
work."

Speech acts are difficult to perform in a second language because learners may not
know the idiomatic expressions or cultural norms in the second language or they may
transfer their first language rules and conventions into the second language,
assuming that such rules are universal. Because the natural tendency for language
learners is to fall back on what they know to be appropriate in their first language, it is
important that these learners understand exactly what they do in that first language in
order to be able to recognize what is transferable to other languages. Something that
works in English might not transfer in meaning when translated into the second
language. For example, the following remark as uttered by a native English speaker
could easily be misinterpreted by a native Chinese hearer:

Sarah: "I couldn’t agree with you more. "

Cheng: "Hmmm…." (Thinking: "She couldn’t agree with me? I thought she liked my
idea!")

An example of potential misunderstanding for an American learner of Japanese

would be what is said by a dinner guest in Japan to thank the host. For the invitation
and the meal the guests may well apologize a number of times in addition to using an
expression of gratitude (arigatou gosaimasu) -- for instance, for the intrusion into the
private home (sumimasen ojama shimasu), the commotion that they are causing by
getting up from the table (shitsurei shimasu), and also for the fact that they put their
host out since they had to cook the meal, serve it, and will have to do the dishes
once the guests have left (sumimasen). American guests might think this to be rude
or inappropriate and choose to compliment the host on the wonderful food and
festive atmosphere, or thank the host for inviting them, unaware of the social
conventions involved in performing such a speech act in Japanese. Although such
compliments or expression of thanks are also appropriate in Japanese, they are
hardly enough for native speakers of Japanese -- not without a few apologies!

Why Should Speech Acts be Taught?

Learners of all languages tend to have difficulty understanding the intended meaning
communicated by a speech act, or producing a speech act using appropriate
language and manner in the language being learned. Research has found that
classroom instruction on speech acts can help learners to improve their performance
of speech acts and thus their interactions with native speakers.

Speech acts have been taught in some second language classrooms, yet most
materials have been written based on the intuition of the textbook writers. There
seems to exist a shared belief that native English speakers just know intuitively how
to interact in their language and should be able to explain the social use of the
language to the learners. However, this commonly shared belief is not necessarily
true; in fact, a native speaker's intuition is sometimes unreliable. For example, a
textbook writer might have a teenager greeting his friend at the airport with, "Hello,
Harvey. How was the flight? I see you got a new bag," when he might actually say
something like, "Hey, man — what’s happening? I like your bag. It’s awesome!"

Often the use of the language is unconscious and speakers of the language may be
able to explain what one "should say," but are unlikely to have an accurate,
comprehensive, or objective picture of how people actually interact. For example, in
ESL textbooks, speakers typically accept a compliment modestly and with grace:

A: What a beautiful dress!

B: Thank you. I’m glad you like it.

However, in real life, when someone compliments us, we may reply:

A: That’s a cute dress you’re wearing.

B: Really? This old rag? I got it at the Salvation Army for $2.00!
or
B: You’re the third person today who’s complimented me on it. I must have done
something right!

Research has shown that native speakers of American English accept a compliment
only about one third of the time, which would suggest that what ESL learners are
learning from textbooks may be grammatically correct, but inauthentic in terms of real
language and real interactions with native speakers.

Descriptions of Speech Acts

This site provides a collection of descriptions of speech acts as revealed through
empirical research. The material is designed to help language teachers and
advanced learners to be more aware of the sociocultural use of the language they
are teaching or learning. It is also an empirical resource for materials developers to
base their future materials on for second language learners.

Speech Acts
Below is a list of speech acts that are being researched a CARLA. Within each
category you will find basic information about the speech act, as well as teaching
tips, sample exercises, and past research findings.

Apologies
Complaints
Compliments/Responses
Refusals
Requests
Thanks

American Apologies

In American English people typically use apologies for a variety of reasons such as:

1. To say that they are sorry

2. To explain why the offense happened
3. To make a repair for the offense and maintain a good relationship with the
addressee

Complex speech acts like apologies actually consist of a set of routinized patterns or
strategies typically used by native speakers of the language. There are five possible
strategies for making an apology (Cohen & Olshtain, 1981. pp. 119-125).

1. An expression of an apology. The speaker uses a word, expression, or

sentence containing a verb such as "sorry," "excuse," "forgive," or
"apologize." Languages have certain words that are used to express an oral
apology more than others. For example, in American English, "I apologize..."
is found more in writing than it is in oral language. An expression of an
apology can be intensified whenever the apologizer feels the need to do so.
Such intensification is usually accomplished by adding intensifiers such as
"really" or "very" -- e.g., "I'm really sorry."

2. Acknowledgement of responsibility. The offender recognizes his/her fault

in causing the infraction. The degree of such recognition on the part of the
apologizer can be placed on a scale. The highest level of intensity is an
acceptance of the blame: "It's my fault." At a somewhat lower level would be
an expression of self-deficiency: "I was confused/I didn't see/You are right." At
a still lower level would be the expression of lack of intent: "I didn't mean to."
Lower still would be an implicit expression of responsibility: "I was sure I had
given you the right directions." Finally, the apologizer may not accept the
blame at all, in which case there may be a denial of responsibility: "It wasn't
my fault," or even blaming of the hearer: "It's your own fault."

3. An explanation or account. The speaker describes the situation which

caused him/her to commit the offense and which is used by this speaker as
an indirect way of apologizing. The explanation is intended to set things right.
 In some cultures this may be a more acceptable way of apologizing than in
others. Thus, in cultures where public transportation is unreliable, coming late
to a meeting and giving an explanation like, "The bus was late," might be
perfectly acceptable.

4. An offer of repair. The apologizer makes a bid to carry out an action or

provide payment for some kind of damage resulting from his/her infraction.

If someone is late for an appointment with a friend s/he might say something
like,

"How can I make it up to you- why don’t I buy you lunch on Friday?

Or someone who fails to make it to an appointment might say,

"Would you be willing to reschedule the meeting?"

5. A promise of non-recurrence. The apologizer commits him/herself to not

having the offense happen again, which is again situation-specific and less
frequent than the other strategies.

The five major patterns or strategies that make up the apology speech act are
available to speakers across languages, yet preference for any one of them or for a
combination of them will depend on the specific situation within the given language
and culture group.

Perhaps equally as important as knowing which strategies to use when, is knowing

how to modify these strategies in a given situation. Factors that may affect how you
would deliver an apology in your native language (and ideally in the target language
as well) include:

• your familiarity with the person being apologized to (intimate to very formal)
• the intensity of the act (its gravity, seriousness, or importance)
• the relative authority that each of you has
• your relative ages
• your sex and that of the other person
• the place where the exchange takes place

Here is an example of an apology situation calling for modification of the speech act
since the offense is relatively severe and the recipient is a friend:

In a cafeteria, you accidentally bump into a friend who is holding a cup of hot coffee.
The coffee spills all over your friend, scalding his/her arm and soaking his/her
clothing. You friend shouts, startled: "Oooh! Ouch!" ~ Cohen, Olshtain, & Rosenstein,
1986, p. 73.

As an American speaker of English, you may appropriately select the strategy of

expressing an apology, you are likely to say "I’m really sorry," or "I’m really very
sorry" in order for it to sound sincere enough. You would probably not say just
"Sorry!" or "I’m very sorry." Although this might be a textbook answer, there actually
is a difference in American English between "very" and "really," with "really" implying
more regret and "very" more etiquette. Thus, this latter apology may not sound very
sincere to your friend. Your friend is probably expecting something more like, "I'm
really sorry. Are you O.K.?" (Cohen, Olshtain, & Rosenstein, 1986, pp. 66-67)

Intensifiers
Not only could an intensifier play an important role, but even an interjection like "Oh!"
could have an important role. In fact, there could be times when a well-placed "Oh!"
and an offer of repair could take the place of an expression of apology in American
English: e.g., "Oh! Here, let me help get something on that burn and clean up the
mess," as opposed to, "I'm very sorry that I bumped into you."

American Complaints

Function of Complaints
Americans use complaints:

• to express displeasure, disapproval, annoyance, blame, censure, threats, or

reprimand as a reaction to a perceived offense/ violation of social rules
(Olshtain & Weinbach, 1985, 1993; Trosborg, 1995)
• to hold the hearer accountable for the offensive action and possibly
suggest/request a repair (Olshtain & Weinbach, 1985, 1993)
• to confront a problem with an intention to improve the situation ("a face-
threatening activity", Brown & Levinson, 1978)
• to share a specific negative evaluation, obtain agreement, and establish a
common bond between the speaker and addressee"trouble sharing" (Hatch,
1992), "troubles talk" (Tannen, 1990) ~ (Boxer, 1993a, 1996). For example:
1. "I can't believe I didn't get an A on this paper. I worked so hard!"
2. "Same here. She doesn't give away A's very easily, that's for sure."
• to vent anger or anxiety/let off steam (Boxer, 1993a, 1996)
• to open and sustain conversations (Boxer, 1993a, 1996)

Two categories of complaints, direct and indirect complaints, are often investigated
separately. While direct complaints are addressed to a complainee who is held
responsible for the offensive action (Could you be a little quieter? I’m trying to sleep),
indirect complaints are given to addressees who are not responsible for the
perceived offense (She never cleans up after her. Isn’t that horrible?). Indirect
complaints often open a conversation and establish solidarity between the speakers.

Above passages from Boxer (1993a).

Direct Complaints
Strategies

Explanation of Purpose / Warning for the Forthcoming Complaint

• I just came by to see if I could talk about my paper.*

• Uh, I got my paper back here and after looking through it...*
 • Listen, John, there’s something I want to talk to you about. You remember
our agreement, don’t you?
• Well, look, I might as well start right out.
• Look, I don’t want to be horrible about it.

Complaint

• I think maybe the grade was a little too low.*

• I was kind of upset with my grade. I know that a lot of the problems are mine
but there are certain areas that I wasn’t totally in agreement with what you
said.*
• I put a lot of time and effort in this...*

Request for Solution/Repair

• I would appreciate it if you would reconsider my grade.*

• ..so, I’d like to maybe set up a time when we can get together and discuss...*
• Would you mind doing your share of the duties?**
• I presume your insurance will cover the damage.**

Request for non-recurrence (The speaker requests that the complainee never
perform the offence again or improve the behavior.)

• Well, I’d really like to find out about this because I’m hoping it won’t happen
again.**

Characteristics*

Use of pronoun "we"

• to indicate that both parties share the blame

• as a way of negotiating the problem

I know we have a different point of view on this subject.

I hope we could sit down and discuss the paper…

Use of questioning

• to ask for advice, for permission to explain oneself

• to get the listener to recondsider or discuss the problem

Do you have a minute so that we could go over the paper together?

Depersonalization of the problem

• to transfer blame from the interlocutor to the problem

I feel this grade may reflect a difference of opinion.

Use of mitigators ("downgraders")

• to soften the complaint (e.g., kind of, perhaps, possibly, a little bit, a second,
somehow, I suppose, I’m afraid, you know, I mean, right, don’t you think?)
 I think uh it’s just in my opinion maybe the grade was a little low.
Maybe you know something about this dent on my car.**
I’m a bit annoyed that...**
Are you somehow involved in this affair?**

Use of "upgraders"**

• to increase the impact of the complaint (e.g., such, quite, terrible, really,
frightfully, absolutely, I’m sure, I’m positive, it’s obvious)

What a frightful mess you’ve made, I’m absolutely shocked.

I’m certain that this dent wasn’t there when I last drove my car.

• Acceptance of partial responsibilities for the problem

…and uh, perhaps it wasn’t quite as polished as both of us would have liked, but the
content was there, and I think I deserve a better grade.

Severity Scale**

1) Least Severe:

The speaker avoids actually mentioning the offensive event.

Don’t worry about it, there’s no real damage.

The kitchen was clean and orderly when I left it last.**
There was nothing wrong with my car yesterday.

2) Somewhat Severe:

Neither the offense nor the complainee is explicitly mentioned but general annoyance
at the violation is expressed:

Look at these things all over the place.**

This is really unacceptable behavior.
There’s a horrible dent in my car.**

3) Fairly Severe:

The speaker threatens the complainee’s face by making a direct complaint but does
not say there will be any other consequences:

You’re inconsiderate!***
You should not postpone this type of operation.***

4) Severe:

The speaker explicitly accuses the complainee of the offense directly and hints that
there may be consequences for the offender:

Look at this mess! Haven’t you done any cleaning up for the last week?**
You borrowed my car last night, didn’t you?**
Next time I’ll let you wait for hours.***
5) Very Severe:

The speaker immediately theatens the complainee by attacking him/her:

You’d better pay the money right now.***

I’m not going to budge an inch until you change my appointment.***
Now, give me back what you have stolen or I'll call the police.***

Above passages from *Murphy & Neu (1996), pp. 199-204, **Trosborg (1995), pp. 315-329 and ***Olshtain & Weinbach
(1985), pp. 200-201.

Indirect Complaints
Indirect complaints usually begin with an introductory expression like one of the
following:

• There’s no way... • I can’t take it.

• I’m sick and tired... • How dare...
• The problem is... • It’s a shame...
• It’s not fair... • This is not my day!
• I’m up to here... • It drives me crazy!

• I can’t stand... • Unfortunately...

Indirect complaints tend to center on three themes:

1. Self (Oh, I’m so stupid.)

2. Other (John is the worst manager.)
3. Situation (I feel, in a way, boxed in, you know?/Why did they have to raise
tuition?)

Above passages from Boxer (1993a), pp.30-31.

[ Research notes on the section above... ]

Responses to Indirect Complaints

Responses to indirect complaints can vary, but they typically follow one of the
patterns below:

Commiseration — showing agreement or reassurance in an attempt to make the

speaker feel better.*

A: I’m getting more and more lost.

B: So am I.
A: And yesterday he went over the homework, which is fine, but it didn’t prepare us at
all for this week.
B: No. He’s just not a good teacher.

No response, or a switching of the topic (Notice that in this dialogue, minimal

response to the complaint or topic switch terminates the complaint.)*
 A: It takes a day and a half to get anywhere ‘cause you spend six hours on an
airplane.
B: So you stayed at X hotel. We liked that place.
A: Yeah, it was great. There was a big pool for the kids.

Question — simple clarification requests, elaboration requests, or challenge

questions expressing doubts about the validity of the complaints*

A: His talk was so weak that I wonder how it got accepted for the conference..
B: Oh, really? I think he had a lot of useful things to say.

Contradiction — not accepting or approving of the complaint by contradicting the

speaker or providing some kind of defense for the object being complained about.

A: You don't even do your own writing.

B: Yes I do!

Joke/teasing*

A: Wow- I just opened this bag of chips and before I'd eaten even one, they were half
gone!
B: You sure pay a lot for a bag half full of air!
A: Yeah, they should come in a smaller bag. I feel ripped off.
B: Let's write a letter to the chip master!

Advice/lecture — offering advice on solving a problem in retrospect.*

A: An annoying thing happened to me. I took my bike in to be repaired- to align the

spokes. They did a lousy job. Now I have to find the receipt and take it back.
B: You should have just bought a new wheel and not bothered to fix it.

American Compliments

Functions of Compliments
In American English we use compliments for a variety of reasons:

• To express admiration or approval of someone’s work/appearance/taste

(Manes, 1983; Herbert, 1990).
• To establish/confirm/maintain solidarity (Manes & Wolfson, 1981; Wolfson,
1989).
• To replace greetings/gratitude/apologies/congratulations (Wolfson, 1983,
1989).
• To soften face-threatening acts such as apologies, requests and criticism
(Brown & Levinson, 1978; Wolfson, 1983).
• To open and sustain conversation (conversation strategy) (Wolfson, 1983;
Billmyer, 1990; Dunham, 1992).
• To reinforce desired behavior (Manes, 1983).

A great majority of compliments are addressed to people of similar age and status to
the compliment giver (Knapp, Hopper, & Bell, 1984 [©]).
Acceptance responses occur only about a third of the time. In American English, two
thirds of the time respondents to compliments do something other than to accept
them (Herbert, 1990 [©]).

Major compliment topics can be classified into 3 categories:

1. appearance/possessions

Compliments on someone’s appearance or possessions are the most

common type of compliments in American English. "Your blouse looks
beautiful!" is an example of an adjectival compliment. About 2/3 of
adjectival compliments use the words nice, good, pretty, great, or
beautiful (Manes & Wolfson, 1981). Good is often used for
performance and nice is mostly used for appearance/attire (Knapp et
al., 1984 [©]).

"I really love your car!" is an example of a compliment that contains a

semantically positive verb. Like or love are used 90% of the time in
this type of compliment. Some other semantically positive verbs that
are used would be admire and be impressed (Wolfson, 1989).

2. performance/skills/abilities

"You did a good job!" and "You are such a wonderful writer" are
examples of compliments on performance/skills/abilities.

Concise compliments such as "Nice shot!" are typically given by male

speakers (Herbert, 1990 [©]).

3. personality traits

Such comments as "Good boy" and "You’re so sweet" are

compliments on the addressee’s personality traits. This category of
compliments occurs less frequently than those on
appearance/possessions and performance/skills/abilities (Holmes,
1988 [©]).

In terms of sentence structure, compliments in American English can be classified

into 9 categories.

NP = noun phrase
ADJ = adjective
PRO = pronoun
V = verb
ADV = adverb

1. Your blouse is/looks (really) beautiful. (NP is/looks (really) ADJ)

2. I (really) like/love your car. (I (really) like/love NP)
3. That’s a (really) nice wall hanging. (PRO is (really) a ADJ NP)
 4. You did a (really) good job. (You V a (really) ADV NP)
5. You really handled that situation well. (You V (NP) (really) ADV)
6. You have such beautiful hair! (You have (a) ADJ NP!)
7. What a lovely baby you have! (What (a) ADJ NP!)
8. Nice game! (ADJ NP!)
9. Isn’t your ring beautiful! (Isn’t NP ADJ!)

Above passages from Manes & Wolfson (1981), p. 120.

[ Research notes on the section above... ]

Responses to Compliments
As noted in the introduction to this website, and at the beginning of this compliment
page, Americans rarely accept compliments. Deflecting or rejecting compliments
negates the implication that the addressee is superior to the speaker in any way. In
American English, the preference of response strategies other than acceptance may
be related to the notion of democracy and equality of all human beings (Herbert &
Straight, 1989, p. 39 [©]).

Compliment Response Strategies

1. Accept
o Appreciation Token (Thanks/Thank you)*
o Comment Acceptance (Yeah, it’s my favorite, too)*
o Praise Upgrade (Really brings out the blue in my eyes, doesn’t it?)**

2. Mitigate
o Comment History (I bought it for the trip to Arizona)**
o Shift credit (My brother gave it to me/It really knitted itself)**
o Questioning or Request Reassurance/Repetition (Do you really like them?)*
o Return (So’s yours)**
o Scale Down/Downgrade (It’s really quite old)**

3. Reject
o Disagreeing Utterance (A: You look good and healthy. B: I feel fat)*

4. No Response**

5. Request Interpretation**
o Addressee interprets the compliment as a request: (You wanna borrow this
one too?)

[ Research notes on the section above... ]

Above passages adapted from *Nelson, Al-Batal, & Echols (1996), p.419 and **Herbert, 1990, p. 208 [©].

Gender Differences in American Compliments

There are some interesting gender differences in the giving of compliments:

• Compliments given by female speakers tend to have a personal focus and

use 1st and 2nd person pronouns: "I love your purse!" "You look great!"
(Herbert, 1990 [©]).
• Compliments given by male speakers are often impersonal: "Nice game!"
"Good job!" (Herbert, 1990 [©]; Holmes, 1988 [©]).
• Women give and receive significantly more compliments to each other than
they do to men or men do to each other (Holmes, 1988 [©]).
• Male compliments are more likely to be accepted than female compliments
(Herbert, 1990 [©]).

American Refusals

Refusals of Requests
Excuses are commonly given as part of American refusals. Americans typically start
with expressing a positive opinion or feeling about the requests or requester (or
pause fillers uhh/well/oh/uhm when talking to a higher-status person), then express
regret (I'm sorry), and finally give an excuse, especially when talking to someone of
higher or lower status than themselves (status unequals). With status equals,
Americans generally give an expression of regret or apology, then give an excuse.

Refusals of Invitations
Americans tend to begin with expressions like "Well," "Thank you," "I'd love to go,"
then use an expression of regret/apology followed by an excuse to speakers of either
higher, lower, or equal status. Expressions of regret and gratitude are used
frequently in declining invitations.

Refusal of Offers
When a cleaning woman offers to pay for a broken base, Americans might say,
"Don't worry" or "Never mind" and reinforce it with expressions like "I know it was an
accident," letting the interlocutor off the hook.

Refusal of Suggestions
Offering an alternative to be pursued by the refuser or making suggestions for the
recipient of the refusal to carry out are common strategies. In few cases, expressions
of gratitude and attempts to dissuade are offered as well.

In general, native speakers of American English tend to be sensitive to status equals

versus status unequals (either higher or lower). They talk to people of higher or lower
status than themselves in a similar way, but they speak to status equals in a different
way than status unequals. For instance, they tend to say "Thank you" at the end of
their refusal to a friend (a status equal) who makes an invitation, but not with others
of unequal status.

Examples of American Refusals

Refusing a friend's birthday invitation:

Oh, I feel bad about this. I'm really sorry. I can't.

Saturday evening? Oh, goodness, I have a date Saturday evening.

Refusing a boss' invitation to a farewell party:

I can't attend on Saturday evening. I apologize.

Refusing a boss' request to stay at work late:

Sorry, I have plans. I would but I have plans. I can't do it today.

I had a prior commitment and since you just told me now, and my shift usually ends
at seven, I probably can't stay late this evening.

I'd really like to. Really. But, you know I can't. I've got a lot of stuff I've got to do.
Perhaps we can do it another time? But tonight's a bad time for me. I'm really sorry.

I can't do it. I've got, uh, I've got some things I need to take care of at home. If, uh, if
it's any consolation, I can come in early tomorrow. But I can't do it tonight.

Refusing to lend a classmate notes:

I just don't feel comfortable giving you my notes because I worked so hard and it
doesn't seem that you've done that much.

Above passages taken from (Felix-Brasdefer, 2002)

American Graduate Students' Rejection of Academic

Advisors' Suggestions
Students' rejection of their advisers' suggestions in academic advising sessions are
out-of-status acts which require the use of status preserving strategies. Students, as
Refusers, need to take their own status and the face-threatening nature of refusal
into consideration and employ strategies to maintain the status balance.

"Downgraders" are sometimes used to soften the rejection in order to maintain

status relations (e.g., agreement before the rejection (that sounds good but I don't
really want...), downtoner (probably), tentativeness (thinking/I'm not really sure), non-
present tense as a play-down (I've been thinking)).
Yeah, but, the books are, probably the books are in German.
I've been thinking about Korean. Thinking about East Asian languages, cultures as a
minor, I'm really not sure how deep my commitment is to that language.

On the other hand, "upgraders" heighten non-congruence that is already inherent in

the rejection (e.g., Yeah but, but, in fact, I prefer). Although yeah but and but may be
mitigated by other parts of the utterance, they alert the interlocutor to the fact that a
rejection is about to occur and highlight the possibility of refusal. This intensifies the
impact of rejection and tends to lead to advisors' disapproval of the rejection.

Questions or embedded questions are sometimes used. Questions are safe in that
they do not sound like explicit rejections, yet may be ambiguous in that they could
either be interpreted as a refusal or could be seen as not convincing enough to
constitute a refusal:

Is it possible not to take it?

I was wondering if I could take your class Mondays and Wednesdays.

Giving explanation is probably the most common strategy for rejection used by
American graduate students. The content should be appropriate and relatively brief.
Giving an alternative tends to be the second most commonly used strategy. This
strategy depends on specific content and the appropriate form for mitigating the
threatening nature of refusals. Explanations and alternatives are used as part of
refusals, often with downgraders.

Australian English Requests

(Blum-Kulka & Olshtain, 1984)

In comparison to American English, Hebrew, Canadian French, and Argentinean

English requests, Australian English has been found the least direct (although this
does not mean that Australian English speakers are more polite than the rest). If
conventionally and unconventionally indirect strategies are combined, the level of
indirectness in Australian English reaches 90%. Australian English speakers tend to
opt for highly scripted, routinized requestive behavior. The majority of the requests
take the form of could you, would you, or would you mind doing X:

• Would you please clean up the mess you’ve made?

• Excuse me, I was wondering whether you could give me a lift?

Australian English speakers are also found to use downgraders more often than
Canadian French, Hebrew, and Argentinean Spanish speakers:

• Could I please borrow your notes from yesterday?

• I was wondering if you could possibly present your paper next week, instead
of the week after?
• Do you think you could help me clean this mess up?

Above passages from Blum-Kulka & Olshtain (1984), pp. 202-204.

 American Thanks

We thank/express gratitude in different ways for different reasons. We may say:

• "Thank you so much for the gift!" to show gratitude,

• "Thanks for the wonderful meal." to compliment someone, or
• "That’s all, thank you." to signal the conclusion of a conversation.

Many examples of thanking appear in a ritualized form, such as saying "Thanks" or

"Thank you" to a bus driver, a cashier, or to a friend who has handed you something.
Some speakers, especially those living in larger cities, may say nothing at all to a bus
driver or a cashier. Others tend to automatically thank others for performing a service
for them.

There are phrases that commonly precede or follow an expression of gratitude or

thanks. These phrases perform another function for the speaker:

• Complimenting (Thank you. You’re wonderful.)

• Expressing affection (I really appreciate this. You’re a sweetheart.)
• Reassuring the listener (I can’t thank you enough. This is just what I wanted.
Blue is my favorite color.)
• Promising to repay (I don’t know how to thank you. I’ll pay you back as soon
as I can.)
• Expressing surprise and delight (Oh, wow! Thank you!)
• Expressing a lack of necessity or obligation (I don’t know how to thank you.
You didn’t have to do this for me.)
• Exaggerating to emphasize the depth of the gratitude (I really appreciate this.
You’re a lifesaver.)

Above passages from Eisenstein & Bodman (1986), pp. 168-172.

[ Anatomy of American thanks... ]

Examples and Strategies of American Thanking

(Eisenstein & Bodman 1986, pp. 179-183).

To a friend who lends you $5:

• Thanks a lot. / Thanks. I really appreciate it. (Thanking)

• Thanks, I’ll give it back to you Monday. (Thanking + promise / reassurance)
• Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. (Expressing surprise + thanking)
• Thanks a bunch. You’re a lifesaver. (Thanking + compliment)

To a friend who brings you a birthday present:

• Oh, you know me so well. Thanks, I love it. (Expressing surprise +

complimenting + thanking + espressing liking)
• It’s beautiful. Thank you. (Complimenting the object + thanking)
• It’s lovely, but you didn’t have to get me anything. (Complimenting the object
+ expressing the lack of necessity/generosity)
To a vice-President of the company you are working for who offers you an
unexpected raise:

• Gee, thanks. / Wow, thanks. (Expressing surprise + thanking)

• Thank you. I’m glad you appreciate my work / I’m glad you’re happy with my
work / That’s great! (Thanking + expressing pleasure)
• That’s very kind of you. Thank you so much. (Complimenting the person +
thanking)
• Thank you very much. I really like working here. I'll continue to give it my
best. (Thanking + expressing liking + promising)

To a friend who offers to lend you $500 you suddenly need:

• You’re a lifesaver. I’ll never forget it. You can’t imagine what this means to
me. (Complimenting the person/action + thanking + expressing indebtedness
+ expressing gratitude)
• I’ll return it to you as soon as I can. I really appreciate what you’re doing.
(Promising to repay + expressing appreciation)
• Wow. I don’t know how to thank you. This is a lifesaver. (Expressing relief +
thanking + complimenting the action)
• Are you sure this is all right? (Expressing reluctance to accept)

To a friend who took you to lunch at a very nice restaurant:

• Thanks for lunch. I’ll take you out next week / Next time, it’s my treat.
(Thanking + promising to reciprocate)
• This was very nice. Thanks a lot for the meal. (Complimenting the
person/action + thanking)
• It was a wonderful lunch. Thank you for inviting me. (Complimenting the event
+ thanking)

To a colleague at the office who tells you that she has organized a farewell party for
you before you leave for a new job:

• You’re wonderful. / That’s very nice of you. (Complimenting the person)

• Oh that’s really nice! You didn’t have to do that! (Expressing surprise +
complimenting the action + expressing the lack of necessity)

To a relatively new friend whose party you have really enjoyed:

• You really made me feel at home. / The dinner was delicious. You’ll have to
come for dinner at my place when we get a chance / I’d like you to come over
to my place next time / I’d like to have you over. I’ll be in touch with you.
(Complimenting action / person + offering reciprocity)
• Thank you very much for the dinner and the company. I really enjoyed
myself. I’ll see you later. Good night. (Thanking + expressing pleasure +
leave-taking)
• Thank you for inviting me. I had a great time. (Thanking + expression of
pleasure)
• Thank you for a wonderful evening. I hope we’ll get together again soon /
Perhaps we can get together again soon / Let’s get together again soon.
(Thanking + expressing a desire to continue relationship)
Responses to Thanks
How people respond to being thanked typically falls into these categories:

1. Recognizing the gratitude and relieving the speaker of its burden (You’re
welcome.)
2. Indicating that it was gladly done (That’s quite all right.)
3. Denying the existence of the need to thank or playing it down (Not at all /
Don’t mention it.)

Above passages from Coulmas (1981), p. 77.

Thanks and apologies can be responded in similar terms (That’s all right / Not at all).
What thanks and apologies have in common is the concept of indebtedness. Thanks
implying the indebtedness of the speaker to the listener closely resembles apologies
where the speaker actually recognizes his indebtedness to his listener. For example:

1. Thank you for all your help. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.
2. Don’t mention it/That’s all right. It’s really nothing.

1. I’m terrible sorry I did this to you.

2. That’s all right. It’s really nothing.

Above passages from Coulmas (1981), p. 72-73.