Have a nice day is a commonly spoken expression used to conclude a conversation (whether brief or extensive), or end a message by hoping the person to whom it is addressed experiences a pleasant day. It is often uttered by service employees to customers at the end of a transaction, particularly in Israel and the United States. According to some journalists and scholars, its repetitious and dutiful usage has resulted in the phrase developing a cultural connotation of impersonality, lack of interest, passive–aggressive behavior, or sarcasm.
The phrase is generally not used in Europe, as some find it artificial or even offensive. Critics of the phrase characterize it as an imperative, obliging the person to have a nice day. Other critics argue that it is a parting platitude that comes across as pretended. While defenders of the phrase agree that "Have a nice day" can be used insincerely, they consider the phrase to be comforting, in that it improves interactions among people. Others favor the phrase because it does not require a response.
A variant of the phrase—"have a good day"—is first recorded in Layamon's Brut (c. 1205) and King Horn. "Have a nice day" itself first appeared in the 1948 film A Letter to Three Wives. In the United States, the phrase was first used on a regular basis in the early to mid 1960s by FAA air traffic controllers and pilots. It was subsequently popularized by truck drivers talking on CB radios. Variations on the phrase include "have a good one" and "have a nice one". In conjunction with the smiley face, the phrase became a defining cultural emblem of the 1970s and was a key theme in the 1991 film My Own Private Idaho. By 2000, "have a nice day" and "have a good day" were taken metaphorically, synonymous with the parting phrase "goodbye".
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