My german friend asked me how do we Malaysians say Thank you? I replied 'Terima Kasih'. He had no problem to pronounce it correctly. I then explained to him, that I do not really know how our ancestors came up with that phrase. But I personally think Terima Kasih has really a beautiful meaning. If you translate, terima is receive and kasih has something to with love, admiration and/or affection. Putting them together you will get 'i have received love'. That totally makes sense, So basically, you are thankful that someone has shown love/admiration/affection (to you). That was what I told him, Our ancestors might have different interpretations, Either way, its beauty lies there.