Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to hate the phrase, "no problem"

67 replies

jameelaq · 01/10/2010 16:30

Very annoying when all companies' representatives say this. I feel like saying, "well I didn't think there would be a problem" or "what? is there a problem" or "thank God for that" They all say it without thinking, as a filler.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
onepieceoflollipop · 15/02/2026 21:17

How did this thread get resurrected over 15 years later?!

CinnamonJellyBeans · 12/02/2026 18:25

I would use "no problem" if someone asked me to do something they cannot expect as a matter of course, i.e a favour. "No problem" conveys the message that I am not resentful and will happily do this from love/respect/they are my boss and I am not daft enough to refuse.

I seethe inwardly when shop assistants feel the need to reassure me that handing me the receipt from my shopping is "no problem".

Letskeepcalm · 12/02/2026 14:14

jameelaq · 01/10/2010 17:23

I can't be in a minority of one, surely?
Ahh well, it won't be the first time I have been left with the couch

Totally agree with you

Original poster
jameelaq · 03/10/2010 01:15

HarderToKidnap Sat 02-Oct-10 10:07:49
The correct answer to

"Can you tell me how much is in my bank account"

would just be a straight yes (or no, if you'd rung the butcher by mistake)

Perhaps that little grammatical error really gets up the noses of call centre staff?

P.S., try adding a please.

Ummm done that, doesn?t work with monkeys
You can try all you want but it just doesn't work anymore. Mind you I did get a refund from mamas and papas yesterday which I was very surprised at considering the fuss they kicked up from what was a seriously obvious manufacturing fault. My God what is wrong with the world nowadays?

OP posts:
brassband · 02/10/2010 19:18

Heard a lot of people in this neck of the woods saying 'No bother' recently? Is that something new or do I just know some weird folk?

petisa · 02/10/2010 15:36

Yes i did see some of OP's other contributions last night. Nasty McNasty. Were you pissed OP?

MouseCostume · 02/10/2010 13:28

I don't like 'no problem' and I don't like my staff to use it.

I read somewhere that it has a negative subliminal because of the word 'problem'

I quite like 'Certainly Sir/ Madam', it's old fashioned, but then so are manners 'nowadays'....arrr, can't believe I just typed that!!

HarderToKidnap · 02/10/2010 10:07

The correct answer to

"Can you tell me how much is in my bank account"

would just be a straight yes (or no, if you'd rung the butcher by mistake)

Perhaps that little grammatical error really gets up the noses of call centre staff?

P.S., try adding a please.

salizchap · 02/10/2010 09:47

"I wouldn't let my woriies get me down or my woolies or my whories or any of that tbh"

Ooops! I was a bit tired so misspelt a word!! OMG! Get the police. Clap me in irons and throw me in the deeeeepest dungeon and make me do lines till I learn to never ever make a typo on MN.

No worries no worries no worries no worries...

PMSL
LOL
:-P

beingsetup · 02/10/2010 09:11

It's also very useful when you just don't want to say yes. Smile

proudnglad · 02/10/2010 08:22

Jamel you are scary. And rude.

That's all. Byeeeeeee!

petisa · 02/10/2010 01:59

So you prefer phrases with positive words in them rather than negative ones, it seems. "No problem" is used to say something positive, but both are negative words, and perhaps that is why it irritates you, on a subconscious level.

Now I'm overthinking this! Grin The phrase doesn't bother me at all fwiw.

Original poster
jameelaq · 02/10/2010 00:30

I wouldn't let my woriies get me down or my woolies or my whories or any of that tbh.

How about?
Can you tell me how much is in my bank account?
Certainly
Just one moment
Yes
Is it really so difficult?

OP posts:
salizchap · 02/10/2010 00:24

YABU. Cos I use it a lot. Smile

Used to say 'you're welcome', but got bored, so now I vary it with 'no problem' and occasionally 'no worries'. 'Worry' can be a verb OR a noun, actually! As in 'pack up your worries...' and 'don't let your woriies get you down'.

Original poster
jameelaq · 02/10/2010 00:09

Yeah I got that Martini, was just trying to get you to bite the bullet. I?m afraid I just don?t get what is apparently so clear in the points made by you and sasha. Call me obtuse, if you will. Perhaps I am. But I think you are simply unclear
How old is your baby? Mine is 13 weeks today and such a poppet

OP posts:
Original poster
jameelaq · 02/10/2010 00:00

Wrong on so many levels. Here comes another fucker. Glad you spotted them Olifin, there is hope for the world yet

OP posts:
Olifin · 01/10/2010 22:44

Ahhhh, see I say 'no worries' and it even irritates me; goodness knows how others feel about it.

What is really irritating me currently is people saying something is 'wrong on so many levels'. What's this level shit all about? Why can't they just say: 'wrong in so many ways'....

jameelaq; I have no idea whether or not YABU about this but your WIthnail references ANU.

Original poster
jameelaq · 01/10/2010 22:36

ginhag. I have worked in everything from the very bottom to the very top. This is not a sociological/political/class thread it is a linguistic/O Tempora O Mores thread. At least that was my intention.

BeenBeta. I agree entirely as to its Spanish equivalence, if one were to translate it. However the Spanish equivalence has been extant for how long 50, 100, 200 years? I really don't know. The phrases we have been talking about have only really become common parlance in the UK in the last 5 years or so.

Don't get me wrong, I don't get particularly hung up about it. I'm not barking.

OP posts:
DirtyMartini · 01/10/2010 22:31
DirtyMartini · 01/10/2010 22:30

I meant that you were apparently being deliberately obtuse, ignoring the perfectly clear explanation given by Sacharissa and also backed up by what I was trying to say.

BeenBeta · 01/10/2010 22:28

I think its the equivalent of the Spanish phrase "de nada" which means 'of nothing' or 'think nothing of it'.

It is said habitually and instinctivey by everyone in Spain as a reply when someone thanks someone. Its a sort of modern version of the old fashioned 'you're welcome'.

ginhag · 01/10/2010 22:23

OP I get the impression you have never worked in any of the 'customer service' type industries?

I could be wrong, but it does rather sound that way.

Original poster
jameelaq · 01/10/2010 22:19

No, go on, you can't just leave it hanging. What is the obtuse thing?
please?

OP posts:
DirtyMartini · 01/10/2010 22:17

Grin no you don't have to reply to every post. I just felt left out of the bunfight

I have no more to offer

Original poster
jameelaq · 01/10/2010 22:14

Sorry Martini, didn't mean to ignore your post. I liked it in fact. very thoughtful. I didn't know the protocol was to reply to every post however. My God, one would do nothing else all day.
Tell me more about situations when people are obtuse and say "no problem"

OP posts:
Swipe left for the next trending thread