No problem is an English expression, used as a response to thanks (among other functions). It is regarded by some as a less formal alternative to you're welcome, which shares the same function.
Informality
editIn the culture of younger Americans, no problem is often used as a more conversational alternative to you're welcome.[1]
It is widely believed that younger speakers especially favor no problem over you're welcome, and empirical research has corroborated this belief.[2][non-primary source needed]
No problemo
edit"No problemo" is "a popular elaboration" of "no problem" also used and popularized in North American English.[3]
The expression is sometimes used as an instance of "pseudo-Spanish" or Mock Spanish.[4] An early example appears in a 1959 edition of the American Import and Export Bulletin, with an advertisement stating: "Foreign shipping is No Problemo".[5] Its usage as a Spanish expression is incorrect; a correct translation would be ningún problema, sin problema or no hay problema. Many Spanish words from Latin roots that have English cognates have an -o in Spanish from the masculine Latin suffix -us, such as "insect" (insecto), "pilot" (piloto), and "leopard" (leopardo); however, "problem" belongs to the group of words ending with an a in Spanish that have a similar English counterpart, such as "poet" (poeta), "ceramic" (cerámica) and "rat" (rata). In the case of problema, this is because it has a Greek 'ma' ending, and as such is among the Iberian words ending in 'ma', such as tema, which is in fact masculine.
See also
editFootnotes
edit- ^ Bologna, Caroline (March 1, 2018). "Why Don't We Say 'You're Welcome' Anymore?". HuffPost.
- ^ Dinkin, Aaron (2018). "It's no problem to be polite: Apparent-time change in responses to thanks". Journal of Sociolinguistics. 22 (2): 190–215. doi:10.1111/josl.12278.
- ^ Tom Dalzell, Terry Victor, eds., The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2006), p. 1383.
- ^ Lipski, John M (2015). "Is "Spanglish" the Third Language of the South?". In Picone, Michael D.; Evans Davies, Catherine (eds.). New Perspectives on Language Variety in the South (PDF). pp. 659–677. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- ^ American Import and Export Bulletin - Volumes 50-51 (1959), p. 278.
References
edit- Andor, József (2008). No Problem (PDF). Lingua Franca Csoport. pp. 153–164. ISBN 978-963-642-300-1.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - Brenner, Gail (September 23, 2011). Webster's New World American Idioms Handbook. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780764524776.
- McKean, Erin (November 29, 2009). "The un-welcome - What's the problem with 'no problem'?". The Boston Globe.
- Richardson, Kristen (November 10, 2011). "My Problem with 'No Problem': It's Destroying Civility". The New York Observer.
- Schneider, Klaus P. (2005). No problem, you're welcome, anytime: Responding to thanks in Ireland, England, and the USA. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 101–139. ISBN 3110184699.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - Tucker, Maria (January 29, 2009). "Here's the problem: 'No problem' is replacing 'You're welcome'". McClatchy Newspapers.
External links
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