Dear Eric: Initially, in my advancing years, I resisted younger persons’ expressions, such as “my bad” for their apologizing for making a mistake, but I finally realized language changes, that’s life. And I eventually grew to like “You’re welcome” being replaced by “No problem.” The problem is, sometimes “No problem” as a response seems inappropriate, implying instead that there was indeed a problem.

I love a younger person’s “No, you’re fine” response to an apology, so it’s not only the circumstance that a younger person expresses whatever sentiment differently. Am I wrong to sometimes view the “No problem” response as a problem?

– Some Problem

Dear Some: I love that you’ve embraced language’s fluidity! I agree that on a semantic level “no problem” doesn’t quite jibe with “you’re welcome.” Personally, I’m weirdly cool with “no, you’re fine” to which I always want to reply “no, I’ll tell you I’m fine!”

Words hit us all differently, based on where we are at the moment. Try to hear “no problem” in the spirit in which it’s mostly delivered: the utter absence of any troubles, worries, or “bads.”

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Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at [email protected] or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.