Cheering the word you

Hi,

I learnt English in Stafford, a small town near Birmingham and they used cheers to say thanks too. There were a lot of students from different parts of England and I seem to remember almost all of them saying cheers… So did they pick it up at uni or did they always use it, I don’t know…
I don’t recall hearing it in London the few times I went but I am not sure either…

It’s all I can say on this, some native English could probably be of more help…

Hi all

I learnt English in Dublin, heard people use «cheers» as thank you. I used it in turn, and one Dubliner told me they didn’t say «cheers» that way. Now I hear it sometimes in England…

Do you know about the geography of the use of «cheers» (also for meaning good-bye, maybe I heard it more in shops than among friends…?)

Ch… Hmm. Thanks.

Hi,

I lived four years in London, studied at University there and heard «cheers» all over the place, whether on the street, in pubs or at university among students… I guess your question, Julian, is rather: do Dubliners use «cheers» that way? which Dubliners? Any smart Irishman around on the forum to answer this vital question?

Cheers, thanks, whatever…

Olivia

I lived for two years in London and I’ve heard «cheers mate» many more times than «thanks» or «thank you» or anything else.

I remember now a movie with Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt, where Pitt played the role or an Irish (from North Ireland), and he said «cheers» a couple of time (maybe to give a «exotic» touch for the american audience, like when a Spaniard says something like «hola amigo» )

capsicum said:

I lived for a few years in various places in the UK and heard:
— «ta!» being used (as far as I know) specifically in the South-East

Ta (for thanks) is not limited to the South East, and if anything is even more common in the North of England. Again, this is a word that is in very common use.

How do you pronounce «Ta»? As in «tap»? As in «tape»?

Thanks a lot.

LadyBlakeney said:

How do you pronounce «Ta»? As in «tap»? As in «tape»?

Thanks a lot.

Neither! It would usually be pronounced as tar, and so rhyme with bar and car. But in certain accents (e.g. South Wales?), it may be a short a as in tap.

This use and pronunciation of ta should not be confused with ta-ta or ta-ra, which is used very commonly, mainly in the Midlands and North of England and in Wales, for good bye. I use cheers, ta and ta-ra quite a lot!

thank you
thanks a lot
thank you so much

those are the simple ways to appreciate people`s favors for you

But, where I am living in the UK, people say cheers mate.. can I say that to a girl ? Which I never said…

If you know the girl pretty well, you can say it jokingly
Otherwise as ecossaise said, you should probably just stick to «thanks so much» or something like that

Neither! It would usually be pronounced as tar, and so rhyme with bar and car. But in certain accents (e.g. South Wales?), it may be a short a as in tap.

Not in my part of South Wales Dave . Here it’s the same as you’ve heard it:

Ta (with the ‘a’ pronounced as in baa baa black sheep, bar or car) = thank you = cheers (which is also used to toast, as in ‘salud’).

Ta very much = thanks a lot.

As far as I know, there doesn’t seem to be a superlative for cheers, so you’d just have to add something on for emphasis, such as:

Cheers mate, thanks a lot, you’ve been a great help!

In NZ, «cheers» is used to mean the following:

1) Thanks.
2) What you say when you are making a toast.
3) Sometimes to mean goodbye.

I use ta [pron. ‘tar’] for ‘thanks’; and (tata or tara or) t’ra for ‘goodbye’.
I

never

use cheers for thanking someone ~ it just doesn’t go with my gloomy disposition

Hi,

Cheers is correct, it is an iformal way to say thank you especially in Australia.

In this context, «cheers» will sound a little odd. It’s used most commonly today in email sign-offs. It’s also used a lot by British people. ‘Thank you’ would sound fine, though a little stiff.

How about: «I hope you all have a great time. Have fun.»

-Greg

Having friends who are Australian, I hear «cheers» from them all the time, yet they still make fun of me when I say it, because it’s a pretty Australian word. I use it sometimes in email signoffs, and sometimes when i am informally leaving a group of people with whom I stopped to chat for a little bit, but in a formal setting where you are talking with a group of students, no I would not use «cheers!»

I like Greg’s suggestion of «Have Fun!» Cheers just seems out of place here…

(It’s used a lot in the UK too but it definitely means Thanks.)

You’re not really thanking the kids for anything there, JJ. I’d go for Have fun too.

Hi,
Cheers is correct, it is an iformal way to say thank you especially in Australia.

That’s right, but a couple of words of caution.

This usage is now common in the UK, too, thanks to the all-pervasive Australian TV soaps.

However, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard it used to a large group of people, or as the closing word of a speech, however informal. In my observation, it tends to be a one-person-to-one-person expression. It is also socially a bit tricky. It has an aura of «mateiness» about it and so is inappropriate even in some otherwise quite relaxed situations. And women use it less frequently than men (in the «thank-you» sense that is) unless they want to come across as «one of the boys».

Sometimes it is also used in a sort of equality-asserting way that expresses a streak of inverse snobbery that Australians and British speakers share (but is much rarer in the US or Canada) For example, a couple of minutes ago I paid our window cleaner and he said, as he always does, «Cheers, mate!» as he pocketed the cash. He wasn’t trying to be offensive and I wasn’t offended, but there is an undertone there of signalling «Just because you live in a big house and pay me to do your dirty work, that doesn’t mean you’re any better than I am, so there!»

So it’s one to be used with care, especially by speakers not wholly at home in the culture of those they’re addressing.

Personally I would wind up a talk to such an audience with «Thanks a lot».

Sure, «you’re welcome» would be a nice, polite reply and perfectly appropriate. If you’d rather keep it loose and colloquial (although «you’re welcome» is hardly formal in my book) you could try «no problem» or «no probs, mate».

Absolutely! I’d use No probs. or, more likely, ‘sokay, (short for «that’s OK»).

‘Sallright is my usual answer

Moderator reminder: Ta is covered very thoroughly in this thread.

In my observation, it tends to be a one-person-to-one-person expression. It is also socially a bit tricky. It has an aura of «mateiness» about it and so is inappropriate even in some otherwise quite relaxed situations. And women use it less frequently than men (in the «thank-you» sense that is) unless they want to come across as «one of the boys».

Sometimes it is also used in a sort of equality-asserting way that expresses a streak of inverse snobbery that Australians and British speakers share (but is much rarer in the US or Canada) […]

So it’s one to be used with care, especially by speakers not wholly at home in the culture of those they’re addressing.

I agree with all the points made by 조금만: use with care if you’re not British (or Irish, South African, etc.)
For example, Nenaya, if I was the kind of person who used cheers to mean ‘thankyou’ (I’m not), I don’t think I’d use it after someone said «God bless you» ~ in the unlikely event that anyone in the UK actually said that in the first place. Instead I’d just grunt or smile or do a thumbs-up or say, «Wow! you just said God bless you ~ I haven’t heard that since 1974!» It is, as you say, too ‘thankful’ for a response to the social nicety of blessing someone after sneezing.