This tool is donation based and free. 🙏 We're looking for donations to keep it running — $360/year covers our server costs.

$18 of $360 · 5%
Donate
This fact check is over 5 months old. The situation may have changed significantly — please recheck before relying on it.

Is Ok Thanks a Formal Way to Express Gratitude

“Ok, thanks”
Informally acceptable
Confidence: High Checked on March 15, 2026

Summary

“Ok, thanks” is a widely used informal acknowledgment in English and is not vulgar. In casual settings it is acceptable, though more formal contexts typically favor responses like “you’re welcome.” The perceived politeness depends on tone and delivery.

Recheck this fact Runs a fresh check with up-to-date sources

Sources 60 searched

sciencedirect.com
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
  • Frequency of Basic English Grammatical Structures: A Corpus Analysis - PMC

    In this paper, we will provide a comprehensive set of structural frequencies for a variety of written and spoken corpora, focusing on structures that have played a critical role in debates on normal psycholinguistics, aphasia, and child language acquisition, and compare our results with those from several recent papers to illustrate the implications and limitations of using corpus data in psycholinguistic research.

explore.st-aug.edu
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu
  • Language Log » O.K. is rude

    "OK" is, as you suggest, particularly productive in this sense. When it is a viable response, a basic acknowledgement is often expected and unremarkable, so the way in which it is said might encode the bulk of what the speaker intends to convey.

clc.hcmus.edu.vn
en.wikipedia.org
  • Sarcasm - Wikipedia

    In sarcasm, ridicule or mockery is used harshly, often crudely and contemptuously, for destructive purposes. It may be used in an indirect manner, and have the form of irony, as in "What a fine musician you turned out to be!," "It's like you're ...

english.stackexchange.com
  • politeness - Responding with "OK" & "Welcome" to "Thank you" - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

    @nightcoder The linked questions indicate how English speakers customarily respond to thank you; neither okay nor welcome nor certainly you welcome make any appearance. I do hear okay and welcome from various non-native speakers, but a fluent speaker would say it's okay or you're welcome (though in rapid speech, sounds may be swallowed; 'sokay or y'welkm ). As for politeness, none of those words or phrases is vulgar, so whether or not they are polite in an informal setting is a matter of delivery: tone, body language, and other context.

examples.yourdictionary.com
  • Examples of Sarcasm: Understand the Meaning and Types | YourDictionary

    Sarcasm is an ironic or satirical remark tempered by humor. Mainly, people use it to say the opposite of what's true to make someone look or feel foolish. For example, let's say you see someone struggling to open a door and you ask them, "Do you want help?" If they reply by saying, "No thanks.

psychologytoday.com
  • Thanks for Nothing: The Twisted Art of Sarcasm | Psychology Today

    Sarcasm is a double-edged sword, one that cuts both ways. It can be clever, cathartic, and connective or confusing, cruel, and corrosive. Like all sharp tools, it should be used with care. Because, in the end, when someone says, “Thanks for nothing,” they might be joking, or they might mean it.

This fact check is free and donation-based. $1 powers ~30 fact-checks.

Donate $1 to support fact-checking

Check another fact