But a new study on the ways people make requests of one another suggests that "please" might not be an all-purpose marker of politeness, but rather a more focused, strategic tool to manage frictions ...

“You can say everything, but not in every way.” —Michael Haneke Human beings are social creatures whose interactions with others are essential to their well-being. We are socially conditioned to be ...

Want to stay current with Arthur’s writing? Sign up to get an email every time a new column comes out. “A dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness,” wrote Robert Heinlein in his 1982 ...

Relationships with the people you don’t know all that well often require that you add an extra layer of care to your communication when touchy subjects arise. Perhaps you’re at a gathering of your ...

In many cultures, “please” and “thank you” are essential expressions of politeness that lubricate social interactions and promote cooperation and reciprocation. “Please” is a shortened form of the ...

Research in pragmatics and politeness explores how individuals manage social interactions through contextually sensitive language strategies. It interrogates the subtle interplay between speech acts ...