Please read this e-mail

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Hello!I'm just reporting the mail written by my colleague adressed to one of our customers. I would like to know if some expressions mentioned can be used. I censored some names because some people may  find these words offensive.  I know this e-mail is not polite and not good written but I wish to have confirmation that some sentences can work."XXXX, are you mad? Did you (or your bosses) lose any basic human politeness? Are you aware that on your behaviour we are judging all nation?Are all of XXXXX people crooks like you are? I believe not! You are shame for your country, that´s for sure.You still owe me the explanation for your behaviour - I´m waiting for it."On the basis of this e-mail I would like to ask as follows:- to loose. Is it possible to say "to loose human politeness" ?does it work?- to judge someone on something. Is it possible to say that I'm judging someone on the basis of his behaviour?- to be a shame for someone. Can I say "you are a shame for ..." ? Thank you so much for your helpPamela

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Simply put: this is not an email that should be sent – or even conceived.  I cannot believe that the writer is even in business.  There is NO EXCUSE for releasing emotions like this in a business communication UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

JohnParis · Answer

Pamela,

Reflect with a cool and calm spirit before committing words like these to paper.

The written word lasts forever.

You don't want to end the week writing a letter like this, do you?

Pamela81 · Answer

Dears,

I DID NOT WRITE THIS E-MAIL! IT WAS MY COLLEAGUE!

I just need an answer to my question. That´s all! I know by myself that it is not polite and I would not write something like that, I just NEED grammar explanation to some sentences.

Thanks

Dimsumexpress · Answer

Hi Pamela,

This is a serious email that should never be sent; especially to a customer. I'd rather not discuss too much on the specific usage of the language, which I think is inflammatory in nature. Though, it says a lot about the author, or his anger toward the reciepient. From a learning perspective, I think you need to realize that some of the terms are not naturally used and should be explained.

Pamela81"XX, are you mad? Did you (or your bosses) lose any basic human politeness? Are you aware that on your behaviour we are judging all nation?

Are you mad ?- This can mean "are you crazy, insane, loosing you mind?" It also means "are you angry"?

Did you (or your bosses) lose any basic human politeness? - You must have something before you can lose it. So

which meaning is it ?

1) Do you and your boss have any basic human decency/ common courtesy?

2) Have you and your boss lost all human decency and common courtesy?

In this context, we usually use present perfect: Have you lost you mind/ all your marbles/ sanity? etc...

Pamela81You are shame for your country, that´s for sure.

It should be: Are you ashmaed of something.

Pamela81Are you aware that on your behaviour we are judging all nation? Are you aware that your attitudes/ behaviors/ actions are judgemental/ critical / of other nations.

Pamela81 · Answer

Dear Disumexpress,

thank you very much for your reply. You gave me what I needed.

I´m here to learn not make GRAMMATICAL mistakes, the sense of the sentences I can judge by myself and in this case I did not ask for a judgement but a correction and that´s what you gave me.

I am always very interested in comparing the way my colleagues write in english and mine, it helps a lot, it´s surprising the way they formulate sentences in totally different way than I do and I must say that in most of the cases I understand by myself that something is wrong but sometimes I can not find a better option or sometimes I´m not sure, that was the case.

Thank you so much for your kind and helpful reply!!!!!!!!!!

With Regards

Pamela

Dimsumexpress · Answer

You are welcome Pamela!

Pamela81I´m here to learn and not make GRAMMATICAL mistakes, the sense of the sentences I can judge by myself and in this case I did not ask for a judgement

Making mistake is human. Only people who try make msitakes. I Do, that's how we improve.
I am sorry if you took my comments as a judgement. Sometimes I get the feeling that the name "dimsum" projects a non-serious image. Contrary to this impression, I take English very seriously. So when I reply to a question, I often use my senses and intuition to judge how much information I should include in the reply to the question. I have been told that my answers were irrelevent in more than one occasions. Perhap! But I wanted to point out what I see as uncommon, mistakes or misconception by learners who don't have the luxury of experiencing the English immersion environment. I hope you didn't perceive my last post as a criticism.

Pamela81 · Answer

Dear,

AT ALL! I did not take your words as a criticism I was referring to the previous comments not to yours.

I am glad I got a satisfying answer from you but I am a bit upset for the reason that in this forum some persons instead of giving advises based on grammatical rules, just judge or make useless criticism. That´s all.

I appreciate your feedback very much.

Thanks

Regards

Pam

BarbaraPA · Answer

Pam, in this forum, we try to do more than correct English. We try to help people COMMUNICATE. What you posted was so, SO wrong for a business e-mail that it would have been a dereliction of our duty to not point out that it was inappropriate. Really, really inappropriate.

So inappropriate that you might be better served polishing your resume than working on the finer points of grammar, because at that rate, your company simply won't have any more customers. A letter like that can go viral - your customer will send it to others, post it online, etc. to show what truly horrific customer service you have. If we didn't point out to you the seriousness of the offense, we would not have been serving you very well.

That said, I completely disagree with two of the points that dimsum made.

CalifJim · Answer

Pamela81XX, are you mad? Did you (or your bosses) lose any basic human politeness? Are you aware that on your behaviour we are judging all nation?
Are all of XXXXX people crooks like you are? I believe not! You are shame for your country, that´s for sure.
You still owe me the explanation for your behaviour - I´m waiting for it.

Grammar check only:

XX,

Are you mad? (American: crazy) Have you lost all your sense of basic human courtesy? Are you aware that we are judging your whole nation on the basis of your behaviour? (American: behavior)

Are all people in XXXX crooks like you are? I don't think so. You are a disgrace to your country. That's for sure.

You still owe me an explanation for your behaviour (Am: behavior). I'm waiting for it.

Pamela81- to loose. Is it possible to say "to loose human politeness" ?does it work?
- to judge someone on something. Is it possible to say that I'm judging someone on the basis of his behaviour?
- to be a shame for someone. Can I say "you are a shame for ..." ?

lose, not loose. You're right. You don't say "lose politeness". You might say "forgotten your manners", though: Have you completely forgotten your manners? You can substitute this for what I suggested above.

You can certainly judge someone on the basis of his behaviour. Yes. This expression is OK.

"You are a shame for ..." is wrong, just as you suspected. The expression is "to be a disgrace to ...".

Also note: I believe not is possible, but not particularly idiomatic English.

CJ

Dimsumexpress · Answer

Grammar Geek I completely disagree with two of the points that dimsum made.

Hi GG,

Would you mind elaborating on the two points. I know I said a lot and some or part of which made not be pleasing to all ears. Thanks.

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