Brits say 'Thank You' more than any other nation

This shouldn’t come as any surprise to any self-respecting Brit, but it’s been confirmed that Britons say ‘Thank You’ more than any other nation on earth.

Scientists have assessed language across five continents and discovered that no other nation expresses gratitude more than Britons – and there’s even instances where we could say it more.

The discovery was published in the Royal Society Open Science journal, and came after researchers assessed the extent to which politeness was associated with verbal gratitude.

During the study, it was discovered that while Brits might be unfailingly polite, other cultures believe that thanking is considered bizarre or indeed rude.

Specifically, Russians were found to thank each other just three percent of the time, while the Cha’palaa speakers of Ecuador never thanked each other.

But while Brits might be the most polite nation, it’s still not the most glowing of endorsements – we only reportedly express gratitude 14 percent of the time.

However, researcher Giovanni Rossi was keen to stress that the study didn’t necessarily show that some nations are ruder than others.

‘We want to avoid the conclusion that we are a bunch of rude people roaming the Earth’, he said.

‘This is to do with how co-operation works. A lot of everyday co-operation is shaped by what we understand as our rights and duties. For simple things — passing the salad bowl, closing the door — we might rethink how much these things really do require thanking.’

He added: ‘Our beliefs and ideals about language very often do not match what we actually do.

‘Thanking has its appropriate moments, and I believe it has a role to play in social interaction, but generally in a more formal setting.’