Your deep description of word meanings and helping to define thanks made me think of going to France with my family when I was in highschool.

My dad is very bad with languages. We went into a French restaurant for dinner and a lady offered to take his coat. My dad, making his best attempt, says in a loud American voice, "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy!" They(the French) and we (my mom, my sister and I) all broke down laughing. He was making his best attempt to say, "merci" (thank you), but it sounded like a cry for help.