JAFO - I know exactly what you mean! It does irritate me when people I have never met before say 'Pleased to meet you' - how do they know they will be? I always stick to a simple 'Hello' and say 'it was nice meeting you' when we say our eventual goodbyes (if indeed it was).
And as for our colonial cousins - the latest seems to be (and I heard my MD using this the other day) "Thank you much"
Seems they can't even be bothered to say 'very' these days
