Regarding どういたしまして usage


Japanese textbooks teach us to reply どういたしまして。 when people say ありがとうございます。So
generally it means "You're welcome~"

But I read that a lot of people saying that when we say どういたしまして。 it somewhat
looks "arrogant". It's like we position ourself higher than the one we help.
So the proper common reply should be どうも。 If maybe we're indeed someone in a
higher position like a boss helping a janitor, then どういたしまして might be proper.

Is the statement above true?




どういたしまして is one of the politest phrases you can say in response to _Thank you_
, and it never sounds arrogant to me. Whether you are a boss or you're saying
this to your boss, it doesn't matter.

That said, どういたしまして is definitely lengthy even for native speakers, and this
phrase is only sometimes heard even in formal and/or classy conversations. In
casual settings, shorter expressions like うん, はい, いいえ, いえいえ are probably more
common. いいえ (lit. "No") in this context roughly means "My pleasure and you
don't need to thank me."

どうも is an almighty phrase which can mean _Hi_ , _Bye_ , _Sorry_ , _Thanks_ and
_You're welcome_ depending on the context, but this phrase may sound rude if
you used it an inappropriate way. Before you understand how どうも is used in
real formal situations, I'd suggest you stick to どういたしまして, 大丈夫です, 問題ありません,
etc.

See this question for other possible expressions.

  * [How do you respond to thanks given?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/1951/5010)




どういたしまして is one of the politest phrases you can say in response to _Thank you_
, and it never sounds arrogant to me. Whether you are a boss or you're saying
this to your boss, it doesn't matter.

That said, どういたしまして is definitely lengthy even for native speakers, and this
phrase is only sometimes heard even in formal and/or classy conversations. In
casual settings, shorter expressions like うん, はい, いいえ, いえいえ are probably more
common. いいえ (lit. "No") in this context roughly means "My pleasure and you
don't need to thank me."

どうも is an almighty phrase which can mean _Hi_ , _Bye_ , _Sorry_ , _Thanks_ and
_You're welcome_ depending on the context, but this phrase may sound rude if
you used it an inappropriate way. Before you understand how どうも is used in
real formal situations, I'd suggest you stick to どういたしまして, 大丈夫です, 問題ありません,
etc.

See this question for other possible expressions.

  * [How do you respond to thanks given?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/1951/5010)

