S'il vous plaît

[mks135]

Can anyone explain to me what the French construction "S'il vous/te plaît" comes from? As we know that could literally mean "If you like this", but we use this in the meaning of "please". But why there is no special word to say "please"? What if I don't like this ("Il ne me plaît pas

Comments

[helenadax]

I'm not French but it happens something similar in Spanish with "por favor", which implies that you're following my order as a favour. I guess if you feel a direct order is too harsh, you can disguise it as a request.

[mks135]

I see. But all I can't understand is where exactly this construction came from. How could this be explained from the point of view of the linguistics and etymology?

[helenadax]

I'm not sure I understand you. I guess "s'il vous plaît" was used in requests first and later people thought using it with orders made said orders more polite. Is that what you mean?

[kaizopp]

lol, well that's what politeness is all about, isn't it? To make things sound nicer. Politeness doesn't make giving orders impossible... it just makes interaction between people more respectful. And if you start to take every expression literally you're in for a lot of misunderstandings, haha.

You can say "if you please" in english too, btw. And answer with "no it doesn't please me" if you feel like being a smartass...
Dutch has "alstublieft/alstjeblieft" which means the same as in french, so idk, but maybe it's actually english that has shortened to a simple form of "plaire"?

[houseboatonstyx]

Also, when the boss/professor adds to his instruction, in a deep crisp tone "IF you please", or "IF you please, Sir!" -- then you better jump. This is often the last warning after an escalating exchange. The word 'sarcasm' does not begin to suggest the magnitude of the action you will suffer if you do not obey NOW.

[shellynoir]

When a professor, in a loud, stern and crisp tone of voice, tells you to put away your notes so he can hand you the test, and he uses the "Tu" form speaking to a student for the first time ever, you put your stuff away as fast as humanly possible.

Not, that I, myself, would know, this happened to, um, a friend of mine once, yeah.

[stacyinthecity]

The etymology for the English word "Please" indicates that it probably came about as a short form of the phrase, "if you please." It has only been in use since the 1600s or so. Considering that most of the polite forms I'm aware of are longer phrases, maybe the question is why did it get shortened in English at all?

As for your question on someone taking that literally and saying "No, that doesn't please me" and not obeying the request, well, that is a question about pragmatics, not the words being used. As a community of speakers, we know that the polite way to request things is to say please (or if you please, or whatever the phrase is in any other language), but being polite doesn't always mean that the request is optional. We know if it is our boss or teacher asking these things- someone above us in status, and perhaps other context such as tone of voice, posture, and what is actually being requested all help us understand that the request is not optional. Language is a lot more than just the words being used.

[eck_lesi]

What I wonder is why "S'elle vous plait" does not exist. It would be logical, wouldn't it... If he pleases you... if she pleases you...

[whswhs]

Because the "il" means "it." And in French, the unmarked pronoun used for an impersonal state of affairs is in the masculine gender. No one says "Elle y a. . . ."

[eck_lesi]

Exactly.

[sollersuk]

Just as one does not say "elle pleut" (though in Welsh one does use the feminine pronoun)