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I know that the word Bitte can have many different meanings. When translating Bitteschön into English word for word however, it makes no sense at all.

My question thus is where does this expression come from? Why 'Please nice/ Please beautiful'?

äüö
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Michael Frey
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    @elena is right :) "schön", like "pretty" in English, is not only an adjective that qualifies the beauty of something but also is an intensifier in the sense of "very". That is, "bitte schön" == "bitte sehr". That's all. – Em1 Sep 30 '13 at 14:54
  • @Em1 I like the comment. Didn't think of that. I can actually think of several examples of pretty as an intensifier in English. No other German one comes to mind though. – Michael Frey Sep 30 '13 at 15:29
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    What about: "Er ist ganz schön verliebt". "Ganz schön frech, der Kleine" "Da hst du mir aber einen schönen Schrecken eingejagt" "Du bist ja schon schön blöd" "Ich musste mich ganz schön anstrengen" – Em1 Sep 30 '13 at 15:33
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    Please note: help/privileges/comment --> [answer]. – Takkat Sep 30 '13 at 18:11
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    "Schöne Scheiße!" – Raphael Jun 30 '14 at 14:53
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    Curiously, 'pretty please' exists. – Suthek Aug 16 '19 at 08:46

4 Answers4

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Bitteschön is just the logical counterpart of Dankeschön which has derived as short form from Ich danke dir/euch schön, and that means I thank you very much. Schön is an adverb here in the sense of very.

Schön is a typical form of politeness. Examples: Er sollte Sie schön darum bitten / Ich danke Ihnen schön / Ein Dankeschön sagen, or antiqued: Habt (schönen) Dank!.

äüö
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  • Note that in common usage, "bitteschön" ("here you go") is not a stronger form of "bitte" ("please"). – Raphael Jun 30 '14 at 14:50
  • @Raphael: you're wrong. 2 Cases: "Bitte(schön), hier hast du es!" and "Kannst du mir bitte(schön) mal sagen, warum ...?"; both ones emphasize the sentence. – äüö Jul 04 '14 at 07:50
7

schön does emphasize somthing like very, pretty, and quite (compare also Bitte sehr!)

It is used as such not just in Bitteschön and Dankeschön.

Das war ganz schön abenteuerlich.
eine schöne Summe
Dort ist es schön ruhig.
http://www.dwds.de

-5

I have recently been learning German and I can say, that I have been told by a German, that "bitte schon" is simply "beautiful manners".

It can also be used after "hier" to make "hier, bitte schön" which, as some people have pointed out, is here you go.

It is in this case not an exaggerator and is simply a polite way of telling someone they have "schön" manners. Which I suppose doubles as a "you're welcome".

This does not mean that "schon" is never an exaggerator, as given in the phrase "danke schön" which is "you're very welcome." "Bitte, bitte" may also be used as a "you're welcome"-ish phrase. It's kind of like "oh please! No need to thank me" kinda thing. Hence "please, please!"

That was pure speculation as it could also be "pleased to please you", which is also a guess.

user unknown
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Tom
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-6

If you speak English, you should be familiar with the expression: "pretty please". It is exactly this just in German. It is a very polite way of saying please.

DisplayName
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    That's wrong. Pretty please is used to ask extra nicely, bitte schön is used like "here you go" in English. – Robert Jun 29 '14 at 23:11
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    Lol that comment is more wrong. – emaltman Jun 29 '14 at 23:32
  • @emaltman I don't think so. http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/Pretty+please%3F – http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pretty_please – http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pretty%20please – Em1 Jun 30 '14 at 13:58
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    Inded, pretty please would rather be bittebittebitte or och, biddööö with puppy-looks – Hagen von Eitzen Jun 30 '14 at 14:39