Thanking You
When the taxi-driver or shop assistant says “I’m thanking you,” what do they mean?
They do not mean ‘thank you,’ for, if this were the case, this is what they would have said. What they are doing instead is describing their action, that is the action of giving thanks.
However, giving thanks is different to showing gratitude. One showing gratitude - that is gratifying one who has gratified them - can do so in a number of ways, of which offering gifts of first edition Henry Greens is only the least they can do. But thanking someone is a smaller affair. It is a matter of politeness and is, really, the only response when one is grateful that the service one offers has been used. The only means by which one can thank another in this fashion is by saying ‘thank you.’
Yet, by so describing the action, the shop assistant or taxi-driver cleverly avoids saying this at all. Rather they give the impression of thanking one, without actually doing so. Theirs is a skilful subterfuge, but a vile one.
They do not mean ‘thank you,’ for, if this were the case, this is what they would have said. What they are doing instead is describing their action, that is the action of giving thanks.
However, giving thanks is different to showing gratitude. One showing gratitude - that is gratifying one who has gratified them - can do so in a number of ways, of which offering gifts of first edition Henry Greens is only the least they can do. But thanking someone is a smaller affair. It is a matter of politeness and is, really, the only response when one is grateful that the service one offers has been used. The only means by which one can thank another in this fashion is by saying ‘thank you.’
Yet, by so describing the action, the shop assistant or taxi-driver cleverly avoids saying this at all. Rather they give the impression of thanking one, without actually doing so. Theirs is a skilful subterfuge, but a vile one.