This article explores how Japanese and Greek female students conceptualize politeness and compares the findings in order to tease out any cross-cultural similarities and differences. The data stem from a questionnaire filled in by two hundred female undergraduates (one hundred from each group). The results display that there are significant similarities as well as some differences. Albeit inquiry on im/politeness has focused almost exclusively on linguistic performance, a significant similarity between the two groups is that politeness is conceptualized as primarily non-linguistic action. Another main similarity is that both groups conceptualize politeness chiefly as “consideration to others” and “appropriate behavior,” the former expressed mostly non-linguistically and the latter involving both linguistic and non-linguistic manifestations. Most participants consider politeness as transferred via attentiveness/helping others, respect and empathy. Differences were located mostly in the numbers of participants who mentioned the various subcategories. For example, more Greek participants linked a broad sense of “respect” to politeness, whereas more Japanese participants linked it to “empathy” and only Japanese participants mentioned “honorifics.” The participants’ comprehensions of politeness seem to be in contrast to earlier politeness theories which view politeness as strategic concern for conflict avoidance and closer to current approaches which view it as relational, expressing concern for the needs and feelings of others.