DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am curious about your opinion when TV guests are told, “Thank you for being on the show,” and they reply, "Thank you." Why do so many guests skip the “You’re welcome” and go directly to “Thank you,” often without adding “... for having me”?
Advertisement
Do we no longer acknowledge thanks on radio or TV?
GENTLE READER: Actually, there is a lot of thanking that goes on in news programs and interview shows. For example, anchors thank their correspondents, which is more than Miss Manners recalls newspaper editors doing when reporters handed in their copy.
But it is an awkward situation. Don’t you think that “You’re welcome” would sound as if the correspondents had done the anchors a favor?
It is sort of the same with the so-called guests. As the opportunity to sound off on television is considered a boon, return thanks are better than “You’re welcome.”
For that matter, the situation is similar with real guests in ordinary social life. But then it is the guests who thank the hosts first. And “You’re welcome” would not sound quite right, so the hosts just say how delighted they were to have the guests.