To ask why people say, 'nice to see you'....?

[mariposa1998]

.....when it's just meaningless waffle and they might not even care/didn't want to see you?

I know that it's politeness and a pleasantry, but I just find it insincere and silly. I'd rather just say bye. Maybe I'm just projecting?

You should (imo) only say it when seeing the person made you happy (outside of workplaces of course, when meaningless pleasantries are fine and part of professionalism!)

But I actually think it isn't nice when it's being used to excuse yourself from someone, as the person (unless they 100% lack self awareness) likely knows that. Much better to just say, 'bye', or 'I need to be getting on/have to run X errand etc'. I wouldn't say it's offensive, but it is insincere and annoying, and the listener knows that!

If you are a in a hurry that's different of course.

Bruce Forsyth made it his own .

Does that mean they didn’t find it nice to see you again?

I say it when it's true...not sure what the issue is tbh 🤷🏼‍♀️

But you can’t read mind, so you don’t know that is what they are thinking

Well it wouldn't work on you, you're tuned in to it 😄

Anyway, it's been lovely chatting with you @mariposa1998, I'm up early tomorrow so I'm turning in now 🤗

And do the pose!

Life is busy. There’s lots of people I like but don’t have time to see properly so I value the moments I bump into them briefly and would genuinely feel it was nice to see them. Some people are two faced but others are nice 🤷🏻‍♀️

I say it when I have a feeling of pleasure/ enjoyment when I see someone. When I feel glad to see them.

I don't see how that's a problem.

It isn’t a problem when you genuinely do feel pleased to see the person

Haha. Those were the days!

😂I wanted to laugh react but of course they've taken that away

How do you mean?

I say it because I mean it.

Because they’re polite.

Well not really if you’re being insincere and didn’t actually want to see the person. You could say something polite but more neutral, ie ‘see you… bye… take care’.

That’s good but I don’t think everyone uses it that way.

I say this often as I'm saying goodbye to someone and I mean it

Politeness is a sincere desire to be polite. The words themselves may, or may not, be taken literally. What should be honoured is the desire to be gentle and polite.

literal mindedness for must of us causes confusion, social lubrication is good for the nervous system.

What bothers me is the people who say let's meet up soon when they don't mean it at all! Sometimes it's fine just to bump into someone, have a brief chat, enjoy it and accept that's as far as your relationship goes!

I was obligated to see someone who had caused me a lot grief for the final time. I searched for something not insincere. I settled on 'well...... goodbye'. It's quite difficult not to default to 'see you soon/later', 'nice to see you'.

I think just ‘see you’ or ‘see you soon’ are most common.

True but we have a choice of polite phrases in English…. Some are less friendly and that’s sometimes more appropriate. We don’t need to be false and insincere with it.

Some people might want to meet but never get round to arranging it….