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Cheers | ||
Tags: Vocabulary learning | English | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room |  | |
| krog Diglot Senior Member Austria Joined 6049 days ago 146 posts - 152 votes  Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Latin | Message 1 of 22 04 February 2009 at 5:00am | IP Logged | ||
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Does anyone have any insights into the development of the word 'cheers' to come to mean 'thanks'?
I remember about ten years ago, a younger boy came into our geography class to fetch some piece of paperwork or other, and said 'cheers' to our teacher instead of 'thank you'. This provoked about two minutes worth of mocking laughter on the part of both our teacher and indeed the entire class. And yet, today, all Norfolk, including me, seems to use the word 'cheers' instead of 'thank you', 'thanks', or even 'thanks, mate'. I have noticed 'cheers' being used in this sense in The Sweeney - so is this a Londonism that has has been spreading gradually outwards for the past thirty years? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sennin Senior Member Bulgaria Joined 6034 days ago 1457 posts - 1759 votes 5 sounds | Message 2 of 22 04 February 2009 at 7:25am | IP Logged | ||
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I don't think it is a "Londonism". People use it a lot more in Scotland than they do further south.
Apart form being used as as a replacement for "thanks" it is also a general expression of goodwill. For example, if you bump into somebody on the stairs, he would say "cheers", meaning "it's all right"; People sometimes end informal emails with "Cheers, X". Edited by Sennin on 04 February 2009 at 7:31am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| krog Diglot Senior Member Austria Joined 6049 days ago 146 posts - 152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Latin | Message 3 of 22 04 February 2009 at 8:31am | IP Logged | ||
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That's interesting, I would have thought it would be a southern thing - definitely the sort of thing Alan Partridge would say. I think in Norfolk you could describe 'cheers' as a more effusive, eloquent way of saying thanks, but you wouldn't say cheers if someone bumped into you, unless you were being ironic.
I say Londonism because The Sweeney is definitely the earliest source I've (consciously) encountered for the modern, general use of 'cheers'. Would I right in saying that it's a slightly more impersonal way of saying thank you? That you might use in the supermarket or the Post Office. That would be cheers with a flat intonation; something you'd say because sometimes saying 'thank you' might almost sound a little stilted and overly-effusive. On the other hand, if you said cheers with a lively intonation, that would mean 'thanks a lot, that's brilliant' - in this case something you might say to a friend who had given you a birthday present, or something like that. Perhaps it's a way of saying thank you, that sounds more manly and informal. When I think about it, I might say cheers to my dad, but definitely not to my mum. Perhaps there was a popular TV series in the last decade or so that popularised the modern 'cheers'? These are all my own personal observations, I really would be grateful if anyone could add anything here. I presume that this is something that's nationwide? I'd love to know. This word cheers is somehow... fascinating to me. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| DaraghM Diglot Senior Member Ireland Joined 6151 days ago 1947 posts - 2923 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, Russian, Hungarian | Message 4 of 22 05 February 2009 at 10:56am | IP Logged | ||
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The usage of cheers for thanks is also common in Dublin, contrary to what is says in this thread. I'm not sure where it first originated though.
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 Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6894 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 5 of 22 05 February 2009 at 4:49pm | IP Logged | ||
Only ten years ago, and it was unknown there then ? I often heard "cheers" used as "thanks" in the South (Brighton) when I was living there from 1985 to 89. Not that it was used by everyone all the time, but you certainly came across it now and again. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Bob Greaves Groupie United Kingdom Joined 6679 days ago 86 posts - 91 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Japanese | Message 6 of 22 06 February 2009 at 10:42am | IP Logged | ||
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I first heard it in when I was at school in Essex in about 1962 (used in the sense of "thanks" as opposed to when one is drinking alcohol). It seemed to be one of those words/phrases that become popular from time to time. I was about 14 at the time, thought it sounded cool and grown up, so decided to start using it.
I don't know if it was the first time around in popularity for this word, but often words/phrases come and go in fashion. The word "cool" was popular in the 1950s and then dropped out of favour and seemed old fashioned. I was surprised when I heard it resurface in 1999. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6894 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 7 of 22 07 February 2009 at 5:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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While we are on the subject of "thank you", one of the things I picked up on my first visit to England in 1971 was "ta" for "thank you". Nearly everyone seemed to be using it then. When I went back to live there some 15 years later it was apparently out of fashion, you could still hear it, but not very often.
It would be nice to hear about the current status of "ta". How frequent is it these days ? Is it regional, or otherwise restricted or more typical to certain groups of people than others ? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| krog Diglot Senior Member Austria Joined 6049 days ago 146 posts - 152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Latin | Message 8 of 22 11 February 2009 at 9:24am | IP Logged | ||
When you were at school, was the dialect in general an East Anglian dialect, or Estuary English? As far as I understand, north Essex would be/have been part of the East Anglian dialect area, and south Essex would have been influenced by London. Edited by krog on 11 February 2009 at 9:25am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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