Saying thank you: from obrigato to arigatou

By Sophie Shields

How many times have you heard or said “thank you” today? Gratitude is a universal sentiment, yet each language has its own twist when expressing thanks. Let’s take a look at the etymologies and nuances of “thank you” across the world.

The English word “thank” stems from the Latin word tongere, where tong means “think.” By the Middle

Ages, it evolved to have a sentiment akin to “for what you have done for me, I think on you favourably.” Romance languages draw similar inspiration from Latin’s gratias agere, “to express thanks,” leading to Italian’s grazie and Spanish’s gracias. In other languages, words for gratitude reflect a sense of indebtedness towards acts of kindness. For instance, Portuguese’s obrigado comes from the Latin obligo, literally meaning “I am