I actually don't know if this is the case all over China or just some parts, but I've seen it mentioned in a lot of places.

Salsa: https://satwcomic.com/manners-are-important

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[–] 4 points 7 months ago (1 child)

Saying "please" when asking someone to do you a favor isn't excessive, IMHO. It indicates that you are making a request and not issuing an order, and recognizes that you are grateful for the assistance.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago

    Makes perfect sense. This comment just made me realize English does not have a distinction between order and request. While, for example, in Russian, orders are said in indefinite tense (?). So when you order a dog to sit, you would say "to sit!" (сидеть!), or to order someone to stop, "to stand!" (стоять!). Another less formal way to order (usually a group) is to use "we" as the subject, for example, "[we are] not sitting, [we are] working" (не сидим, работаем)

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