When is it appropriate to use ごくろうさま?

Question

I've seen お疲れさま and ご[苦労]{くろう}さま used to say "Thank you" after some had done work of some type. After reading the お疲れさま thread, I realize that the two are not interchangeable. So when do you use ご[苦労]{くろう}さま?

When is it appropriate to use otsukaresama?

Answer 1

(First, a note: because there is a ご at the beginning of ごくろうさま, that お〜 is actually not there. :)

I've most often heard ご苦労様{くろうさま} used by people older than myself, when I have done something for the person (or in some way have helped the person,) using that phrase. (Besides age, this could also happen in a business situation, where a senior worker is speaking to a junior worker.)

For reference, more information can be found in the following articles; one in English, and one in Japanese:

• Japanese Words #4 – Otsukaresama & Gokurosama
• 御苦労様

Answer 2

From how I understand it, it is sort of a subsection of when you might say お疲れ様でした, for when people are "just doing their job" so to speak. Like if a firefighter gets a cat from out of a tree, or you're leaving your job site and are talking to your co-workers. It seems to me that this is said to police officers a lot.