Learn English – Is it rude to say “Thanks for asking”

grammaticalitymeaningpolitenesssyntactic-analysis

My manager recently asked me "How are you doing? Everything OK?". I felt happy that he asked me that question, and felt that he was really concerned about me. I was doing well. So I told him that and followed it up with "Thanks for asking." Does the statement "Thanks for asking" sound rude (kind of like I don't need to tell you)? Is there a better way to express the expression or can you use your feelings to prove how you feel?

Best Answer

I find this to be a fairly common exchange in customer service (CS) situations (cashiers, waiters, telemarketers, and the like) these days:

CS: Hello, how are you doing today?

Me: Good, thanks, and you?

CS: I'm doing great, thank you for asking!

Apparently, the phrase "thank you for asking" is considered the height of customer service etiquette now.

So not only is saying, "thank you for asking" not rude, it's a form of politeness that's scripted often into customer service interactions.