What are the basic words and phrases of politeness in Russian, and their English equivalents (preferably explained in English)?
I know that words, phrases, and occasions for politeness differ among languages, so if there is a phrase appropriate to e.g. both "Thank you" and "I'm sorry" (where I live, drivers raise and clearly wave their hands in a gesture that means either depending on context), I would appreciate an explanation of how the boundary lines are drawn in Russian where they are different from American English boundary lines.
I'm not looking for really obscure information known only to specialists in etiquette, but barring that, I would like as much detail as possible for words/phrases of politeness in dealing with ordinary Russians.
Spaseba, bolshoe spaseba,