Thanks but no thanks

Posted by Masakim on August 15, 2003

In Reply to: Thanks but no thanks posted by Bijo Alex Thomas on August 15, 2003

: I have heard of the phrase "thanks but no thanks". can anybody suggest the situations where it can fit well?

: thanks.

thanks, but 'No, thanks'! Prob. orig. more common in US than in UK and the commonwealth: since c. 1955. 'A polite refusal, but often ironic -- that is, the offer refused had been no favour' (R.C. 1978)
From Dictionary of Catch Phrases: American and British, from the Sixteenth Century to the Present Day by Eric Partridge & Paul Beale

thanks but no thanks is a hackneyed phrase which is used to convey an emphatic rejection, 'We're reducing the budget and we've had to make you redundant but we can re-employ you on a short-term contract'. 'Thanks, but no thanks'. It is often rather an impolite rejection, a fact which is made clear only by the tone when spoken. The popularity of the expression dates from the later part of the twentieth century.
From _Cliché_ by Betty Kirkpatrick