Notes

The Importance of Polite Speech in the Modern World Polite speech may have had an important role in the past, but it has found itself marginalized in today’s society. An anthropologist studying first-year students in the United States found that friendly phrases communicate politeness rather than literal meaning. Findings like this have started to make people question whether polite speech is even useful in any context anymore. Despite arguments to the contrary, polite speech is important because it establishes a prosperous environment in the workplace. Initially, polite speech establishes a prosperous workplace environment by ensuring a peaceful work setting. To be clear, friendly speech maintains positive relationships between employees. Simple phrases like “Nice to meet you.” or “How are your kids?” make people feel appreciated and comfortable in their place of work since they show that others are care about them as a person and not just as a worker. This increase in morale makes a worker feel more motivated to do their job than if they were just ignored by others. Also, friendliness amongst workers means that there are no problems with having different people work together since everyone is on good terms with each other. Thus, polite speech is important because it establishes a workplace environment that people can feel comfortable in, and this leads to an increase in productivity and worker synergy. In short, polite speech creates a tranquil work setting which leads to a successful workplace overall. Additionally, polite speech establishes a prosperous workplace environment because it makes people feel respected. Specifically, people feel that someone who uses polite phrases with them does so because they hold them in high esteem. Many parts of friendly speech like “How are you?” have essentially become formalities in the modern world. However, the fact that someone would go through such formalities for them shows people that the other person respects them because they bother to do it at all. If someone did not respect their coworker,