 In their 2002 book Different Games , Different Rules , Haru Yamada and Deborah Tannen recalled teaching a class in London , where a student construed " have a nice day " to be insincere . The student said that Americans " say things like that with this big fake smile on their face , and they don 't really mean it " . Not having the context of the metaphor , the student took the phrase literally and was unable to discern the intended cordiality . Conversely , when Americans visit stores in Britain where the salespeople engage not in " have a nice day " salesmanship , Americans regard British as lacking customer service . 
