There have been a couple of threads in recent days when two experienced contributors have used a phrase like:
but this has then generated very irate responses from other contributors in countries where English is not the main language.... Shame you haven't updated to Office 365 ...
Is the word "shame" treated as very rude in other languages?
Pete
As far as I know... no.
I suspect that it's MWS at work. Missing Words Syndrome. Maybe "Shame" is being interpreted as "Shame on you" as opposed to "It's a shame that".
It is a sad consequence of the internet revolution that there are hordes of people "out there" who actively seek out opportunities to be offended. I live in Belfast and half the population (ish) is looking for reasons to be offended by the other half (ish)... and vice versa.
An alternative explanation may be that those who take offence have relatively uncomplicated cognitive processes.
Glenn
None of us get paid for helping you... we do this for fun. So DON'T FORGET to say "Thank You" to all who have freely given some of their time to help YOU.
Temporary addition of accented to illustrate ongoing problem to the TT: L? fh?ile P?draig sona dhaoibh
I guess it depends on the context.
If someone declares a non 365 version of office and the response is (It's a)Shame you haven't updated to Office 365..., then I can see how that might rile them.
In such circumstances it might better to phrase it more as a statement of fact, e.g. If you had Office 365...
Similarly, something like It's a pity that you can't... might be less likely to cause affront if phrased It'd be helpful if you could...
Perhaps these contributors should first expand their knowledge of the English language instead of sticking to " Globish" ? My main language is not English, but I do have a couple of good dictionaries ( Webster) at hand.Originally Posted by Pete_UK
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