What does the phrase "Why, thank you." mean? - http://www.quora.com/English...
Feb 28, 2014
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In English Grammar: Meryn Stol voted up this answer.
Patrick Wallace
Here it is being used as an interjection to express surprise (in this case, pleasant surprise I would think). Why people started using it this way, I have no idea. However, this usage of the expression is quite old.
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- Meryn Stol