In English, "thank you" derives from "think." It originally meant, "I will remember what you did for me"-which is usually not true either-but in other languages {the Portuguese obrigado is a good example} the standard term follows the form of the English "much obliged"-it actually does mean, "I am in your debt." The French merci is even more graphic: it derives from "mercy," as in begging for mercy; by saying it you are symbolically placing yourself in your benefactor's power-since a debtor is, after all, a criminal.63 Saying "you're welcome" or "it's nothing" {French de rien, Spanish de nada}-the latter has at least the advantage of often being literally true-is a way of reassuring the one to whom one has passed the salt that you are not actually inscribing a debit in your imaginary moral account book. So is saying "my pleasure"-you are saying, "No, actually, it's a credit, not a debit-you did me a favor because in asking me to pass the salt, you gave me the opportunity to do something I found rewarding in itself!"64
( David Graeber )
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