In the states, you hear de nada in place of “you’re welcome” everywhere. I don’t know if the Cubans in Key West use de nada. Since I’ve never understood Spanish before, I haven’t listened closely enough to pick it out. When we’ve said de nada, we’ve meant "you’re welcome", although it literally means "of nothing" or "from nothing".
In Costa Rica, the ticas say con mucho gusto (with much pleasure) and they say it like they mean it. It’a lovely sentiment. Try tossing off de nada, then toss off con mucho gusto. You can’t say con mucho gusto without at least a hint of a smile. Now de nada sounds a little rude to me. Thank you.
I always took “de nada” as “Oh, it’s nothing. No need to thank me,” but I may be wrong about that.
I rarely hear Ticos say “de nada”. Last time I heard it, I was furniture shopping in Sarchí. I asked the lady in charge if there was a bathroom I could use. She pointed me in the direction, I said thank you and she said “de nada”. As I was paying for my purchase, she used another phrase I don’t hear in Costa Rica, “vale” as in “right” or “good idea” or simply “OK”.
“Are you from here?” I asked.
“Yes, my uncle is the owner” she replied.
“It’s just that I heard you say some things I don’t hear a lot like ‘de nada’ and ‘vale'”.
No reply.
So as not to make her feel uncomfortable, I said, “They say ‘vale’ a lot in Spain don’t they?”
“And Colombia too”.
Now why couldn’t she just say she was from Colombia?
Hi Jon – I’d have a hard time believing she was born and raised in Costa Rica… the ticos are without hesitation the most accommodating people in the world. I can’t imagine anyone simply ignoring your comments unless she didn’t understand. I’ve never heard, in my 6 months here, anyone say de nada… so she must have picked it up somewhere else. Maybe she’s an illegal? De nada is practically an English language idiom.
Sally
Good point, invadesoda. I hadn’t thought of that – I think we always mean de nada in the nicest way… just as you describe. But we’ve gotten to tossing it off without thinking. And now that I’ve heard con mucho gusto, I just like it better. But I’ll remember your interpretation of de nada and not be annoyed when I hear it!!! Thank you!