The paper is a case study in which an analysis of the lexeme thank you (referred to as a polite formula) used by the Polish speakers in the giving-gift situation is presented. The author argues that the meanings of the lexeme in question are not only culturally-bound and socially diversified, but also determined by the situation in which it is applied. Moreover, as the study shows, the choice of a formula that expresses gratitude is highly subjective and depends on the communicational and sociolinguistic ompetence of the interlocutors. Concluding the paper, the author states that linguistically the giving-gift situation can be described in terms of communicational grammar of a particular discourse in which culture seems to play the decisive function.
