So, aside from work being gobstopper-suckingly long, TIL that you say thank you different ways for different...

So, aside from work being gobstopper-suckingly long, TIL that you say thank you different ways for different circumstances in Cantonese.

I had learned both ways of saying thank you, but then when I used them, people kept telling me I was wrong. So I though I had learned the syllables or the tones wrong. In fact, I'm apparently far more capable of learning these subtleties than I thought, and was saying the words correctly, just not in the right context.

I'm still going to need to clarify a bit, but it seems that one is used for when someone gives you something, and one is for when someone does something for you. I suspect it's more nuanced, so we'll see if I can get it before I leave town (and probably never have the opportunity to speak Cantonese again).

Thus far, the one way I've learned to say thank you in Mandarin seems to be suitable to any occasion. At least, no one has told me I'm wrong.

Cantonese is so much harder than Mandarin!
(Random information: there are 4 tones in Mandarin, 8 in Cantonese.)