When the Norwegian ‘politeness marker’ vennligst becomes impolite

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Abstract This corpus-based study contributes to the ongoing discussion on conventional politeness markers, such as please, by being the first to examine how the corresponding Norwegian lexical item vennligst ‘please’ is used. The study investigates the use of vennligst in data from two Norwegian corpora in standard situations, where the relationship between the interlocutors is clear, and non-standard situations, where the relationship between the interlocutors is less clear. The results show that although Norwegian dictionaries describe the pragmatic function of vennligst as being that of a polite request, most instances were found in standard situations where vennligst indicates a ritual frame that goes unmarked. The results also show that in non-standard situations, vennligst is not only used as a politeness device but more often strengthens the requestive force into a command. Therefore, we caution against using vennligst in non-standard situations due to the likelihood of being interpreted as impolite. Depending on the situation type, the various interpretations may explain why some Norwegians interpret vennligst as polite, whereas others deem it impolite. By illustrating how vennligst may be interpreted differently, we hope to draw attention to the situational influences on such markers and the dangers of relying on their conventional meanings.