I despair at times. Today I received an e-mail from an insurance company asking me to fill in a form and "forward it back". Forward it back!? I could forward it or I could send it back but "forward it back"? I loath how some people manage to mangle the English language.
"You can be young without money but you can't be old without money"
Maggie the Cat from "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." by Tennessee Williams
I heard a man being interviewed by a newscaster about a fire in his neighborhood. Apparently, he and his son were just sitting and "conversating" when they noticed the flames...
Quote:I loath how some people manage to mangle the English language.
I wish you could say that to my fellows who translate our Arabic proverbs into English which makes completely ironic senses or none at all.
Here are examples of translated (if you're interested):
"from each valley a stick"
"put the jar on her mouth and she will resemble her mother"
"does anyone bring the bear to its vine?"
"tap on the water and you will get more water"
and many many others......
LONDONER Wrote:I despair at times. Today I received an e-mail from an insurance company asking me to fill in a form and "forward it back". Forward it back!? I could forward it or I could send it back but "forward it back"? I loath how some people manage to mangle the English language.
As stupid as the statement sounds, I understand what they were trying to do. I see it all the time at work, I send an email with an attachment, and the person I send it to is supposed to return it to me, but they "reply" which won't carry the attachment, so I get an email, but not the needed attachment.
Whoever sent that was trying to make sure the "forward" option was used, and not the 'reply' button.
CellarDweller Wrote:As stupid as the statement sounds, I understand what they were trying to do. I see it all the time at work, I send an email with an attachment, and the person I send it to is supposed to return it to me, but they "reply" which won't carry the attachment, so I get an email, but not the needed attachment.
Whoever sent that was trying to make sure the "forward" option was used, and not the 'reply' button.
Sorry CellarDweller, "to forward" means to send it on to someone else. The person who wrote that e-mail to me could quite easiy have asked to to "return" it to me or "send it back". "To forward back" is an abberation of the English language and makes no sense whatsoever.
"You can be young without money but you can't be old without money"
Maggie the Cat from "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." by Tennessee Williams
^would it have made more sense then if they worded it like this: "please use the forward button to return the form back to ensure the form is attached, otherwise, if the forward button is not used and the reply button is used instead, the form may not be included as an attachment."
Or you could save on time, characters and keystrokes by saying, "forward back", essentially saying the same thing.....
ETOTE Wrote:^would it have made more sense then if they worded it like this: "please use the forward button to return the form back to ensure the form is attached, otherwise, if the forward button is not used and the reply button is used instead, the form may not be included as an attachment."
Or you could save on time, characters and keystrokes by saying, "forward back", essentially saying the same thing.....
The form that they sent me I was not able to fill in because it didn't give that option. I had to copy the text in to a Word document, answer the questions and then send it back. I repeat, "forward back" makes no sense at all. It would have been far easier and grammatically correct to say: "Please fill in the attached form and return it to us."
"You can be young without money but you can't be old without money"
Maggie the Cat from "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." by Tennessee Williams
After giving this some thought, I agree with Londoner. I think people are focusing on the use of the word "forward." and that is not the problem here. It is the use of the word "back." If you were to say to someone "Please complete the enclosed form and forward it back to me," there is nothing in that sentence that would make any reasonable person think you meant something different if you had said, "Please complete the enclosed form and forward it to me." Technology may have changed the way we use the word "forward," but using it with the word "back" is still unnecessary.
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