cultural :: greetings :: work based

[moyashi]

There are 2 greetings that you'll hear in a work enviornment quite often.
Gokurosama
O-Tuskaresama

I here them everyday. Being more American in this situation i don't use them but they're good to know since you're coworkers will use them hopefully in regard to you.

Gokurosama = Thanks for doing something that isn't really your duty but is sort of your duty.

Example: A night watchman at a high school I work at will bring up the evening edition of the newspaper to the teacher's lounge and if there are other teachers there will say "gokurosama" while I being the dumb gaijin will just say "arigatou" or "sumimasen".

O-tsukarasma = Thanks for doing a difficult and/or ****** job that nobody else except your are elected to do. Well, doing something while the person mentioning the phrase is busy sitting down or busy relaxing and smoking.

Examaple;
I teach the last and latest classes in school so when I go for my stress relieving smoke after class many teachers greet me with "o-tsukaresama" .... hehe, it's a good feeling to hear that.

[Olivia]

haha, nice examples!
specially the first one, i guess i would act like the dumb gaijin (hehehe), saying 'arigatou'!