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Yes. I would take it as you being bothered because I asked you to do something.
You have misinterpreted. It's just an expression.
Do you think " you're welcome" as a response to thank you means you are not welcome, that "certainly" in response to pass the salt means certainly not?
No problem is not one of my favorite expressions, but it most certainly not passive aggressive. What would you have people say?
I've had people ask "would it be a problem for you to do me a favor and watch my house for the weekend"?
Should I just say "no" ? That would seem like you don't want to do the favor. "No problem" would seem more appropriate.
"No problem" is akin to the Australian "No worries". The latter does not mean, “I’m a flippant nonchalant fellow who ignores pressing concerns and who lives strictly in the moment, and I sincerely recommend the same breezy attitude to you as well”. Rather, it means “I’ve accorded due diligence to the matter, whence you can rest assured and without worry”.
Similarly, “No problem” means “Rest assured that your request has not in the least importuned me, and indeed, whatever the initial problem may have been, which first triggered your concern, I shall duly solve it with no particular hardship on my part, as the matter is really quite easy”.
Yes. I would take it as you being bothered because I asked you to do something.
It is an idiomatic expression. The French use the same construction: Pas de problème. The implied meaning is “it’s easy” or “it’s no trouble.” I suspect the negative form is used out of politeness. You’re deconstructing the language too much. A person could use it in an ironic, passive-aggressive way, but the task involved would have to be comparatively onerous or complicated—much more than simply passing the salt.
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