Ever since infancy, Norwegian children have learned how important it is to answer nicely “no thank you” when they are asked about soft drinks or waffles, but are full. If you ask children and teenagers today if they want ice cream, you have no guarantee of how they will answer no. More and more young people have begun to formulate themselves differently: “things are going well”. Dagny Sofie Giljarhus Linge is one of those who use the term. – Yes, quite often. I think everyone in my generation does it, says the 14-year-old. She gets support from her friends who also answer “it’s going well” when they are asked about something they do not want. – Like that in a café, if they ask for a receipt, says Ylva Roland (13). From left: Ylva Roland, Serine Hauge, Rakel Vågen Aurvåg and Dagny Sofie Giljarhus Linge. Photo: Remi Sagen / news Do you hear it every day Viktoria Sjåstad (17) hears the expression many times a day. She makes baguettes at Big Bite, and has many young customers. She says the boys stand out by using the term most. – Girls usually say “no thank you” instead of “it’s going well”, they are more polite than boys. It’s probably because girls are more mature than boys, she says. Viktoria Sjåstad meets many young customers at the Big Bite counter. She has registered that many of them no longer say “no thank you”. Photo: Remi Sagen / news One of the customers, Solbjørg Farstad (67), has also registered that the term is gaining ground among children and young people. She thinks it’s not as good as “no thanks”. – No, I do not think so. It is better to say “no thank you”, it is nicer, she says. Grandmother Solbjørg Farstad does not scold young people who drop “no thanks” – but think it is more polite than “it goes well”. Photo: Remi Sagen / news She receives support from teenage mother Renate Vågen (48). – Is it because they did not bother to get involved in the answer that they say “it’s going well”? Because they are engrossed in their screen, or do not dare to say what they mean? We want grateful, committed and clear young people, we may have to challenge them and ask back “why, what, what do you mean”, says Vågen. What do you answer? No! No thanks! It goes well! Show result Applauding language development The Norwegian language is constantly evolving, and has weakened sharply in the last ten years. Many young people drop the sentence. Curse and racist expressions are on the rise. In many areas, English takes over. But language professor Jan Svennevig (60) at the University of Agder applauds the young people who drop “no thanks”. – I think it’s perfectly fine. Young people are constantly coming up with new ways of talking that may offend those who have been used to something else for many years, he says. – But do you miss something when “no thank you” disappears? – No, on the contrary, one adds something rather. “No thank you” is just a pure rejection, then the reason may be that the food was not good or that one is full. When one says “it’s going well”, you give a kind of grounding, and then you refute possible conclusions that the food was not good or that there was a problem with it. I think this is an underlying courtesy strategy, he says. – Do you think one should teach children to say no thank you? – No, not really, he says. Professor Jan Svennevig thinks “it’s going well” can be a kind of translation of English “I am fine”. And it seems he is doing very well. Photo: University of Oslo – Nicer way of saying no The 20-year-olds Nicolas Helgesen and Joakim Kvammen have long since used the term and completely agree with the language professor. – It’s a slightly nicer and more polite way of saying no, the two say. Nicolas Helgesen and Joakim Kvammen think it’s a little nicer to say “it’s going well”. Photo: Remi Sagen / news But the question is whether everyone is the same in rejecting “no thank you”. Yasmine Hjelm (26) hesitantly admits that she too has started to replace “no thank you”, but does not think it is a plus. – I have a son of eight years, and I teach him to say “no thank you”. I think it’s polite, and I want him to feel safe in the choices he makes. Yasmine Hjelm wants the eight-year-old to learn to say “no thank you”. Photo: Remi Sagen / news
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