"Your Coffee is Ready" Part-Time Workers' "Emotional Labor" in 'Nonsensical Honorifics'

"The menu is not available"… 79.8% of part-timers have experienced 'nonsense honorifics'
Some use strange honorifics to avoid conflicts with 'gapjil customers', effectively emotional labor

Young people working part-time at cafes and convenience stores.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] "Your coffee is ready," "Your meal is ready."

These are common phrases used by part-time workers (alba-saeng) at cafes. Although they are a kind of incorrect honorific speech, they arise from the situation where workers try to use honorifics for customers no matter what they say. However, from the part-time workers' perspective, it turns out they use these strange honorifics because they want to avoid conflicts with customers who act abusively. In fact, this is emotional labor for the part-time workers.

A man in his 30s, Kim, who has worked many part-time jobs at cafes, said, "(The phrase 'Your coffee is ready') is something part-time workers know is fundamentally incorrect," adding, "Nevertheless, the reason they use such phrases is because some customers misunderstand it as informal speech and complain if they don't use them. They have no choice but to use them." He continued, "Because of this, they actually expend a lot of emotional energy and it is quite tough."

As Kim's complaint suggests, there is a survey result showing that strange honorific speech is essentially emotional labor. On the 9th, job search site Albamon conducted a survey of 2,174 part-time workers, and 4 out of 5 (79.8%) said they have used 'incorrect honorific speech' during their part-time work, which they could not understand what exactly they were honoring.

Especially, the majority of part-time workers answered that this incorrect honorific speech is actually emotional labor. Among the respondents, 68.4% said, "This kind of incorrect honorific speech that excessively elevates the customer corresponds to emotional labor." This response was nearly 10 percentage points higher among those who have used incorrect honorific speech (70.1%) compared to those who have not (61.4%).

There are also opinions that they use these honorifics even though they know they are wrong. Regarding the reason why they think such incorrect honorifics are used, 44.6% answered, "I know it is an incorrect expression, but if I don't use it, it feels awkward or might be perceived as rude," ranking first.

A young man is working part-time at a convenience store.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

A college student in his 20s, Lee, who works part-time at a convenience store, said, "Isn't this obviously incorrect grammar?" but added, "In part-time situations, this is easier." He continued, "At night in convenience stores, many customers come after drinking, and they mostly speak informally," adding, "If I don't get cursed at, I'm lucky. So I have no choice but to use such strange honorifics."

The same survey reveals these part-time workers' difficulties clearly. When asked why they use strange honorific speech, 35.9% answered, "Because customers consider it unfriendly or complain if I don't use it." This was followed by "Because everyone uses it unconsciously" (34.6%), and "I use it voluntarily for customers accustomed to extreme honorifics" (26.4%). There was also a response of 3.3% saying, "I was instructed or trained by the company, supervisors, or colleagues to use it that way."

The incorrect honorific phrases that part-time workers have actually used at work (multiple answers allowed) included △'You can do it like this' (51.4%), and second place was △'That menu is not available' (50.4%). Others frequently used incorrect honorifics were △'This product is not discounted' (42.0%), △'Your order has been placed' (30.3%), △'Please wait over here' (24.9%), △'The payment amount is OO won' (19.3%), and △'Your ordered meal is ready' (17.4%).

Experts recommend using proper honorifics. A representative from the National Institute of the Korean Language explained, "'Coffee' is not an object of indirect honorification. Indirect honorification is to indirectly elevate the subject through objects closely related to the subject, such as body parts, personality, psychology, or possessions that should be honored," adding, "This is not correct honorific usage."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.