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Nowadays people everywhere will, after a conversation, invite you to 'enjoy the rest of your day'. When on holiday on one occasion I was urged to 'enjoy the rest of your holiday'.

What is the purpose of such expressions which seem to me to be there simply as a way of ending conversations?

Is there a name for such things?

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  • A sort of (forced or constrained) polite closure. It's a not too subtle cue to end the meeting/small talk and leave. Usually said between acquaintances who have little in common and feel a slight embarrassment (or dread) that they have to strike up a conversation in the first place. Am I right?
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Aug 14, 2014 at 7:20
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    Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
    – Andrew Leach ♦
    Commented Aug 14, 2014 at 20:29
  • Are they not platitudes? Or is that something else?
    – Lee Englestone
    Commented Aug 15, 2014 at 15:20
  • @WS2 - Start here -> chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/16443 - this chatroom was created specifically for this thread, and linked above by Andrew Leach. Use the @ symbol to ping a user just like you've been doing in these comments.
    – Daniel
    Commented Aug 18, 2014 at 3:48
  • My feeling is that this is actually a "contraction" for I hope that you enjoy the rest of your day. I certainly do not give it any more weight than How are you?, which is really meant as a "Hello" rather than as a question.
    – jxh
    Commented Aug 18, 2014 at 21:13

7 Answers 7

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While it's not specific to ending a conversation, consider pleasantries:

An inconsequential remark made as part of a polite conversation

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    @ws2 If your question is not "what are these phrases called, and why do we use them?", but instead "I don't like these phrases: how can we change them?", please update your question to reflect that (so we can close it as off-topic ;).
    – Dan Bron
    Commented Aug 14, 2014 at 12:52
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    @WS2 Asking if there's a term for these phrases, or even why they exist, is a legitimate, on-topic question for english.SE because it's interesting and adds value. Opining that you dislike such phrases, seeking moral support and legitimization, and soliciting opinions is explicitly off-topic because it damages the community. And clothing the latter in the trappings of the former to skirt the rules is just low.
    – Dan Bron
    Commented Aug 14, 2014 at 13:49
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    @WS2 Social pleasantries are a kind of lubrication between people, all of whom have different values, thoughts, feelings, intentions, and experiences. They exist to promote harmony. They are a kind of signalling that enables people to not treat others as mere objects but respect them as people, deserving of standard signalling protocol. If someone says, "How's it going" do you not understand he is looking for "Great, and you?", not personal details of your difficult life? If you allow normal social lubrication to be a major irritant, you are going to suffer in life.
    – ErikE
    Commented Aug 15, 2014 at 19:42
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    @ErikE Thank you for the advice. I have lived nearly 70 years and so far have not 'suffered in life' from a lack of 'social lubrication'. I do not disagree with anything you say. I do however believe that organisations which mandate their staff, either to smile sweetly, or to deliver greetings by rote offer no social lubrication whatever. In fact they are a serious irritant in themselves. Pleasantries have to be genuine and spontaneous in order to work.
    – WS2
    Commented Aug 15, 2014 at 20:56
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    @WS2 I think I can appreciate what you're driving at. I, too, hate false sincerity, and am actually a very transparent and earnest person. On the other side of the coin, however, corporations that reach a certain size fall easily into exercising control, because the 1% of employees that do not behave properly when given free reign to express themselves sincerely becomes a significant absolute number (say, 364 incidents of rudeness reported by customers last year), and at that point mandating the exact words of the pleasantry becomes hard to avoid.
    – ErikE
    Commented Aug 15, 2014 at 21:43
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These phrases are specifically called valedictions (WP) :

A valediction (derivation from Latin vale dicere, 'to say farewell'), or complimentary close in American English, is an expression used to say farewell, especially a word or phrase used to end a letter or message, or the act of saying parting words whether brief or extensive.

As to "why": to explicitly (and politely) inform you that the other party considers the conversation complete and ended: over and out.

Yours sincerely,

-Dan

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    'Valediction' sounds excessively portentous to me. Aren't valedictory speeches made by people as their final utterances before they depart this life ? In fairness the OED references would however suggest that American usage may be more everyday. But I for one would not wish to do anything 'valedictory'; not just yet, anyway.
    – WS2
    Commented Aug 14, 2014 at 12:21
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    You asked "is there a name for such things?": valedictions is the name for such things. You asked: "What is the purpose of such expressions? They seem to simply be a way of ending conversations": they simply are a way of ending conversations. Such sentinels serve the same purpose and provide the same value as they do in aviation (over and out), they did in Victorian Britain (yr mst hmbl obdt srvt) , as they did in the Roman Empire (vale + diction), and as they will when I press's "send" and my phone posts this comment to the SE servers: </comment>
    – Dan Bron
    Commented Aug 14, 2014 at 12:36
  • @WS2 - You're right that deathbed speech is probably the most definitive type of valedictory speech ("VS"), but such speech is not restricted to the dying. In the US, the valedictorian of the graduating class (UK = graduating year/school leavers) customarily addresses the rest of their class, teachers, and the families of the departing students with a VS summarizing their progression coupled with some thoughts on the next phase of their lives. (And there are also other, similarly ritualistic occasions in which people publicly mark a transition from one stage of life to the next with a VS.)
    – Erik Kowal
    Commented Aug 14, 2014 at 22:09
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    The verbal version of *drops mic*.
    – Paul D. Waite
    Commented Aug 15, 2014 at 7:08
  • The pleasantries at the ends of letters (“Sincerely yours”) are also valedictions. The greetings at the beginning are called salutations.
    – B. Szonye
    Commented Aug 15, 2014 at 22:08
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This type of communication is phatic:

ADJECTIVE

Denoting or relating to language used for general purposes of social interaction, rather than to convey information or ask questions. Utterances such as hello, how are you? and nice morning, isn’t it? are phatic.

(Definition from Oxforddictionaries.com.)

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  • This was Merriam-Webster's word of the day a few years ago; interestingly, they claim it has no direct relation to emphatic.
    – Air
    Commented Aug 14, 2014 at 18:28
  • Just because the phrases are phatic, does not mean that phatic is a name for these phrases. The question asks for the name of this type of expression, not an adjective describing them (and others).
    – GreenAsJade
    Commented Aug 18, 2014 at 8:54
  • @GreenAsJade -- Then let me dot the I's and cross the T's by classifying them as phatic speech, phatic utterances and/or phatic communication. Please accept my best wishes for your peace of mind. :)
    – Erik Kowal
    Commented Aug 18, 2014 at 9:34
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    Thanks - but ... that wasn't what I was trying to get across. "Phatic phrases" describes, but does name these utterances. It's like saying that "rectangles" is a name for "shapes with four equal length sides". Sure, they can be described as rectangular, but "rectangle" is not a name for these things. Similarly, phrases that wish you well are only one kind of phatic utterances. "Phatic Utterance" is not a name for "phrases that ask you to enjoy yourself". As you said in the answer "Nice morning, isn't it" is a phatic phrase, but it is not one of the type the question asks about.
    – GreenAsJade
    Commented Aug 18, 2014 at 12:18
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It's a farewell,

An expression of good wishes at parting

Essentially you are right, it's a polite way to end a conversation.

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  • I don't find formulaic speech, holding itself out as sincere and genuine, to be in the least bit polite.
    – WS2
    Commented Aug 14, 2014 at 13:36
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    @WS2 It's just a different way to say "hello" and "goodbye", do you find them impolite too?
    – Tim B
    Commented Aug 14, 2014 at 13:53
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    @WS2 Holding it out to be sincere and genuine is exactly what they are not doing. It is most often mere signalling protocol, and it is unfortunate that those who refuse to engage in (or understand the proper place of) standard social signalling will likely encounter social problems throughout life. I personally don't like "thank you for your patience", since how does the person know I didn't wait impatiently, but I understand it, and certainly have no problem with "thank you for waiting".
    – ErikE
    Commented Aug 15, 2014 at 19:46
  • @ErikE My wife has a little ritual she goes through with our grandson when she speaks to him on the phone. In order to sign off the conversation they say 'one, two, three, bye' in unison. If what we are concerned with is 'protocol' that would be a better one for commercial people to use! It would avoid the insipid insincerity of 'have a nice day'.
    – WS2
    Commented Aug 16, 2014 at 21:11
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You could probably use salutation. Typically it is used to refer greetings at the start of a conversation but can also be used to describe parting phrases such as enjoy the rest of your holiday.

A gesture or utterance made as a greeting or acknowledgement of another’s arrival or departure.

(Source: Oxford Dictionaries)

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  • Parting phrases are usually called valedictions rather than salutations, but I suppose that either word could fit here.
    – B. Szonye
    Commented Aug 15, 2014 at 22:10
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You could call them benedictions. As to why we have such phrases, it is because we genuinely want to send people with our blessings, to express our good will, and to leave on a happy note. Sometimes we appropriate these warm phrases because we need a more polite way to say, "Shut up and go away," but it would be unduly cynical to say that's all they ever mean.

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  • But if they are pre-formatted, isn't that exactly what they are? To say 'have a nice day', when for all you are aware, they might have just been given some tragic news, is as bad as saying 'shut up and go away', isn't is? Are there not more genuine ways of blessing people?
    – WS2
    Commented Aug 14, 2014 at 17:15
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    It's all in the tone of voice. You really can use a "preformatted" phrase to say something genuinely nice; I know this both because I've heard it and I've done it. You can also be more creative if you want.
    – Qaz
    Commented Aug 14, 2014 at 17:52
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    @WS2 Perhaps you're looking to expresses the meaninglessness of some farewells, in which case I suggest adding "perfunctory" before any of the answers here.
    – Qaz
    Commented Aug 14, 2014 at 19:38
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The purpose of the expression is certainly to indicate an ending to an interaction. This would be a closing or a congé.

If it is an overused expression, then it may be considered a platitude.

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