Vocabulary question: debrief/de-brief

Question

Dear users,Today I'd like to ask about how to use the word: de-brief1) Is it normally spelled with a dash or without it?2) Can it be used in this way in an e-mail?Hello Tom. Could you please de-brief me on tomorrow's admission conference? What part of it will I be involved in?I know that this word is often used amongst soldiers and it means "to interrogate" or "to question" but I've heard it being used in other situations as well.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Perfect Stranger1) Is it normally spelled with a dash or without it?

No hyphen: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=debrief%2C+de-brief&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cdebrief%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cde%20-%20brief%3B%2Cc0

Perfect Stranger2) Can it be used in this way in an e-mail?Hello Tom. Could you please de-brief me on tomorrow's admission conference? What part of it will I be involved in?

Not really; I would reserve it for important transmissions of information. It sounds rather facetious there.

1.to interrogate (a soldier, astronaut, diplomat, etc.) on return from a mission in order to assess the conduct and results of the mission.
2.to question formally and systematically in order to obtain useful intelligence or information:
Political and economic experts routinely debrief important defectors about conditions in their home country.
3.to subject to prohibitions against revealing or discussing classified information, as upon separation from a position of military or political sensitivity.
4.Psychology. (after an experiment) to disclose to the subject the purpose of the experiment and any reasons for deception or manipulation.

Perfect Stranger · Answer

Thanks.

Would you be able to offer a better verb to replace debrief?

Mister Micawber · Answer

Perfect Stranger a better verb

Hello Tom. Could you please tell me about tomorrow's admission conference? What part of it will I be involved in?

Fivejedjon · Answer

Perfect StrangerWould you be able to offer a better verb to replace debrief?

I'd have no strong objection to 'brief' there. It's not uncommon in the worlds of business and politics. You can't 'debrief' somebody on something that hasn't happened yet.

Perfect Stranger · Answer

Thank you.

Would fill me in on be possible?

Could you fill me in on tomorrow's admission conference proceedings?

Mister Micawber · Answer

Perfect StrangerWould fill me in on be possible?Could you fill me in on tomorrow's admission conference proceedings?

That sounds fine and appropriate.

Vocabulary question: debrief/de-brief

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