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What cliches do you dislike the most? Thread poster: jyuan_us
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jyuan_us 
United States
Local time: 17:23
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | As a matter of course | Jan 2, 2023 |
I know where you are coming from.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:23
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Dan Lucas wrote: Tom in London wrote:
People who say "I'll be back momentarily" when they mean "I'll be back in a moment". If they were British, you'd right to be annoyed, but this is legitimate usage in American English. Dan
that's not what this American says
https://bethgsanders.com/nine-commonly-misused-words/
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Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:23
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
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| Guilty as charged | Jan 2, 2023 |
I admit I have been perhaps lackadaisical about using “over x million people” rather than “More than x million people”…
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:23
Member (2008)
Italian to English
..what do Americans say when they actually do mean "momentarily" (as in "she paused momentarily")?
[Edited at 2023-01-02 14:56 GMT]
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Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 23:23
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
I get emails from non-native PMs who ask me to kindly do this, and then to kindly do that. I never heard a native English PM use this. What’s wrong with Please +?
I kindly don’t work with kindly+ people.
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Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 23:23
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| “for a moment” | Jan 2, 2023 |
Tom in London wrote: ..what do Americans say when they actually do mean "momentarily" (as in "she paused momentarily")? [Edited at 2023-01-02 14:56 GMT]
They use “for a moment” and related synonyms. But they also use the two phrases interchangeably.
Usage Note: Momentarily is widely used in speech to mean "in a moment, shortly," as in The manager is on another line, but she'll be with you momentarily. Many critics dislike this use, insisting that the adverb should only be used to mean "for a moment," as in He hesitated momentarily before entering the room.
https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=momentarily
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Radian Yazynin
Local time: 00:23
Member (2004)
English to Russian
+ ...
At the beginning of letters, a wildcard for any addressee.
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Confusing “literary” with “literal” (quite common, unfortunately)
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Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:23
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| Please let's not use "kindly" | Jan 2, 2023 |
Lingua 5B wrote:
I get emails from non-native PMs who ask me to kindly do this, and then to kindly do that.
Agreed. It's even worse when they shift the position of "kindly" so that their email reads "We kindly ask you to submit the document by...". No. That's not how it works. It's nothing to do with whether you are kindly or not. You probably meant to write "We ask you you to kindly submit the document by..." but for heaven's sake, as Lingua says, just use "please", as in "Please submit the document by...".
Speech intended to denote respect is complex in many languages, so aim to minimise (not amplify) that complexity. If you're dealing with the other respectfully and professionally, that will be conveyed by your general behaviour, not by "kindly". If you're disrespectful and unprofessional, that will not be mitigated by inserting "kindly".
Dan
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Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 23:23
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| Cultural etc. | Jan 2, 2023 |
They may be coming from cultures where there’s a need to be polite in each sentence. However, to me it rather appeared like a wrong English usage than being kind per se. I get source texts in native UK/US English with the overuse of “please” but never have I seen “kindly” used that much. Maybe it’s obsolete or archaic in modern English.
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Lingua 5B wrote:
They may be coming from cultures where there’s a need to be polite in each sentence. However, to me it rather appeared like a wrong English usage than being kind per se. I get source texts in native UK/US English with the overuse of “please” but never have I seen “kindly” used that much. Maybe it’s obsolete or archaic in modern English.
Yes. The Scandinavian languages have no word for “please” so they say “kindly” (“vänligen” etc) so that would account for some of this.
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jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 17:23
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
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TOPIC STARTER | Safely received | Jan 3, 2023 |
I always wonder why they always use “safely” this way.
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jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 17:23
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER |
jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 17:23
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
"Literally" has literally been used too much.
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