Brits are more likely to say ‘cheers’, ‘ta’ or ‘that’s great’ than the words ‘thank you’, according to a new study. Researchers found four in 10 people prefer not to say thank you because the phrase is too formal, while 13% deem it as ‘old fashioned’.
Instead, Brits are choosing to thank people by saying words such as ‘cool’, ‘brilliant’, ‘lovely’ and even ‘boom!’.
Other common ways of offering thanks include ‘you star’, ‘super’, ‘wicked’ and ‘okay’.
But reassuringly, two thirds of people still like to regularly appreciate others in everyday conversation, just not necessarily in the most traditional way.
The study of 2,000 was commissioned by first direct to launch its new ‘Big Thank You’ campaign, which seeks to mark its gratitude to customers for their continued loyalty and support.
Zoe Shore, head of customer communications at first direct, said:
”The key thing to remember is that people still like to give and receive thanks, but in the modern world there are a million different ways to do this.
”You’ll probably find that people use different phrases to thank others, depending on what situation they are in and who they are speaking to.
”So words such as boom, cool and wicked might be deemed appropriate with your mates, but not quite so suitable for a work setting, or when talking to an elder.
”But being told you are appreciated, no matter how this is expressed – through words, cards, letters or otherwise – is a great feeling.”
The study shows eight in 10 people believe others should always be thanked for kind actions, with 25% saying it doesn’t matter if it’s just a little wave of acknowledgement.
But a third of those polled admit they probably could do with showing their appreciation a little more, such as buying someone flowers, sending a card, or sending a gift.
And we say thank you to shop workers (33%) more than our parents (26%) or teachers (4%).
Brits will most commonly thank someone when given change, when receiving a present or if someone buys them a drink.
Other actions which usually result in some form of thank you include someone holding the door open, someone telling you that you look great or when someone saves a space for you.
Surprisingly, six in 10 people believe that, as a nation, Britain is quite rude, and 83% think more effort needs to be made to regularly show our gratitude.
And while more than half of us feel appreciated by our partners, only 5% feel appreciated by bosses.
But when on the receiving end of thanks, 64% say that just hearing those special words – or something similar – makes them feel that everything was worth the effort.
Zoe Shore from first direct added:
”Thanking people is something we’re big on. Showing appreciation is a two way thing – our consistently great customer service means we get thanked regularly, and we also want to say a big thanks to all our customers for banking with us.
”We all show appreciation in different ways – as long as it means something to the person on the receiving end and makes them feel good, that’s all that matters.”
TOP WAYS OF SAYING THANK YOU
1. Cheers
2. Ta
3. That’s great
4. Okay
5. Cool
6. Brilliant
7. Lovely
8. Nice one
9. Much appreciated
10. You star
11. Sorted
12. Fab
13. Alright
14. Awesome
15. Merci
16. Gracias
17. Super
18. Wicked
19. Boom!
20. Danke
