It must have been earlier than the 1950s. It was popular in our household in the late 1940s. In fact I remember building entire sundaes and banana splits while pleading for a pony. At the age of 4, 5, and 6, I had a great deal of difficulty comprehending the word “no”.
Kathy:
August 7th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
I was trying to figure this out myself. I think its an english phrase with german roots.
“bitte schoen” means “beautiful (pretty) please”
Roberta:
December 26th, 2009 at 4:57 am
Kathy, “bitte schoen” in German means “You’re welcome” or “There you go” (as “Voila” in French),
and isn’t used to ask for something.
Good try, though.
Ruth:
April 30th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
“Bitte” can be used for “please” as well as for “thank you.”
If a German speaker were conversing in English and did not understand, he might request “Bitte, auf Deutsch.” which would mean “Please, (say it) in German.”
Draxonfly:
December 5th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Don’t forget the cherry.. when I was young it was “pretty please with sugar on top and a cherry” ..
Robyn:
January 7th, 2011 at 7:43 am
FYI- Once I saw this, and saw how rude Roberta was I decided to contact a friend of mine that came to Canada where I live as an exchange student from Germany and has spoke the language, and lived(s) there is whole life.
Here is his response quoted. Bear in mind his English isn’t the best.
“hey… “bitte schoen” means “you are welcome” and “pretty please” is actually almost the same, if u translate it word by word… what for do u use it??? to strengthen a request??? i’m not sure if there is a way to translate it for this way… since we only say “bitte” (please) or double it “bitte, bitte”…”
steve:
March 31st, 2011 at 8:30 am
The phrase dates back to at least 1948 as it appears on P.55 of the play by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse, “Life With Mother”, which opened on Broadway on October 20, 1948.
Yvonne:
July 14th, 2011 at 6:37 pm
Thanks all. We remembered something about sugar and a cherry but couldn’t remember exactly.
v.k. venkov:
January 17th, 2012 at 6:03 am
Close, but no cigar.
Pretty please comes from Middle English “prithee”, itself a contraction from “I pray thee”.
Russ Fulton:
February 21st, 2012 at 7:07 am
Dear v.k.,
That’s what I thought. How did you confirm it? –rf
The 1932 novel Year Before Last by Kay Boyle uses the phrase ‘prithee please’. It seemed to me like there must be some link to pretty please. (Prithee is a later version of pray thee)
I just noticed that v.k. above already got it right.
Tony:
February 24th, 2016 at 5:44 pm
16th century, when sugar from colonies became widely available. Look at cookbooks, and fruit cake. Sugar sweetens fruit liquifies it, also used as preservative.
roguebfl:
May 18th, 2016 at 2:57 pm
found a use of the phrase in The Sun of New London, Connecticut, January 13, 1917:
Leave a comment
Search us!
Search The Word Detective and our family of websites:
This is the easiest way to find a column on a particular word or phrase.
To search for a specific phrase, put it between quotation marks. (note: JavaScript must be turned on in your browser to view results.)
Ask a Question!
Puzzled by Posh?
Confounded by Cattycorner?
Baffled by Balderdash?
Flummoxed by Flabbergast?
Perplexed by Pandemonium?
Nonplussed by... Nonplussed?
Annoyed by Alliteration?
Jacki:
April 13th, 2008 at 9:36 am
It must have been earlier than the 1950s. It was popular in our household in the late 1940s. In fact I remember building entire sundaes and banana splits while pleading for a pony. At the age of 4, 5, and 6, I had a great deal of difficulty comprehending the word “no”.
Kathy:
August 7th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
I was trying to figure this out myself. I think its an english phrase with german roots.
“bitte schoen” means “beautiful (pretty) please”
Roberta:
December 26th, 2009 at 4:57 am
Kathy, “bitte schoen” in German means “You’re welcome” or “There you go” (as “Voila” in French),
and isn’t used to ask for something.
Good try, though.
Ruth:
April 30th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
“Bitte” can be used for “please” as well as for “thank you.”
If a German speaker were conversing in English and did not understand, he might request “Bitte, auf Deutsch.” which would mean “Please, (say it) in German.”
Draxonfly:
December 5th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Don’t forget the cherry.. when I was young it was “pretty please with sugar on top and a cherry” ..
Robyn:
January 7th, 2011 at 7:43 am
FYI- Once I saw this, and saw how rude Roberta was I decided to contact a friend of mine that came to Canada where I live as an exchange student from Germany and has spoke the language, and lived(s) there is whole life.
Here is his response quoted. Bear in mind his English isn’t the best.
“hey… “bitte schoen” means “you are welcome” and “pretty please” is actually almost the same, if u translate it word by word… what for do u use it??? to strengthen a request??? i’m not sure if there is a way to translate it for this way… since we only say “bitte” (please) or double it “bitte, bitte”…”
steve:
March 31st, 2011 at 8:30 am
The phrase dates back to at least 1948 as it appears on P.55 of the play by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse, “Life With Mother”, which opened on Broadway on October 20, 1948.
Yvonne:
July 14th, 2011 at 6:37 pm
Thanks all. We remembered something about sugar and a cherry but couldn’t remember exactly.
v.k. venkov:
January 17th, 2012 at 6:03 am
Close, but no cigar.
Pretty please comes from Middle English “prithee”, itself a contraction from “I pray thee”.
Russ Fulton:
February 21st, 2012 at 7:07 am
Dear v.k.,
That’s what I thought. How did you confirm it? –rf
Thomas at My Porch:
July 8th, 2013 at 11:47 pm
The 1932 novel Year Before Last by Kay Boyle uses the phrase ‘prithee please’. It seemed to me like there must be some link to pretty please. (Prithee is a later version of pray thee)
Thomas at My Porch:
July 8th, 2013 at 11:48 pm
I just noticed that v.k. above already got it right.
Tony:
February 24th, 2016 at 5:44 pm
16th century, when sugar from colonies became widely available. Look at cookbooks, and fruit cake. Sugar sweetens fruit liquifies it, also used as preservative.
roguebfl:
May 18th, 2016 at 2:57 pm
found a use of the phrase in The Sun of New London, Connecticut, January 13, 1917: