A friend who works in business says that she has been hearing a lot of polite commands worded as e.g. "thanks to ask any questions at the end of the presentation" (she has also seen this written a few times, so it isn't just spoken).
I find this surprising since I would have avoided the infinitive here ("thanks for asking") or I would have turned the "thanks" into a verb ("I'll thank you to ask").
For context, she works in a very international setting, but has heard this turn of phrase only from USAmericans.
Is this a "correct" turn of phrase? how widespread is it? how recent is it? can anyone find examples in established writing?
Best Answer
The people OP's "friend who works in business" deals with are either non-native speakers of English, or very illiterate/sloppy.
I'm not sure there is a credible phrasing involving "thanks" for a command/request not yet carried out, since semantically it's nonsense. The closest I can come up with is...
...but this form is normally only used after someone has already done the opposite (or was obviously just about to do so). It's somewhat dated, and very haughty/confrontational/rude.
The rudeness of the above form is a good reason for steering clear of thanking anyone for anything in advance. People do often write "Thanks in advance" at the end of letters/emails asking for something which they expect/are entitled to receive, but I wouldn't push it.