All Questions
Tagged with subcontinental-english politeness
4
questions
22
votes
11
answers
10k
views
Why doesn't the English language have distinct words to use when talking to elders? [closed]
In many of the languages that I've studied there are separate distinctions in the words to use when talking to elders and when talking to someone of your age or younger.
For e.g. in Hindi, if I ...
- 1,444
0
votes
1
answer
10k
views
Will that be fine?
Quite a few times now, a waiter or shop assistant has asked me:
Will that be fine?
I've noticed that I've only ever heard Indian English speakers use this turn of phrase.
To my (British) ear, it ...
- 3,101
4
votes
4
answers
115k
views
What should be the proper reply for thanks?
I like a girl which is in same division as I am. Recently she was suffering from malaria and when I came to know this I sent a "Get well soon!" message. We have hardly exchanged any words in labs and ...
- 315
18
votes
4
answers
75k
views
“May I know your good name?” [closed]
"May I know your good name” is a typically Indian way of honouring another person by asking their name using an adjective like sweet, good, beautiful, et cetera. Of course there won’t ever be any bad ...
- 189