# DDT (Lost and Found Office apprentice  )



## Danielle

> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ishatar*
> _Excuse me, I've found some words someone dropped on the floor. Are they yours? _
> 
> _Hi. Could you give me a_
> 
> 
> _...? Thanks in advance_
> 
> 
> _If nobody comes ask for them, I think I'll just let them to the Lost and Found Office. _
> 
> 
> 
> DDT (Lost and Found Office apprentice  )


 

Can someone tell me what that really means... I've seen it a few times and my search wasn't very helpful.... can someone (like DDT) explain?
Thanks,
Danielle


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## DDT

That's a simple quote of a very nice French member who found the most polite - I guess - way to invite people to...politeness! 

DDT


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## Danielle

DDT said:
			
		

> That's a simple quote of a very nice French member who found the most polite - I guess - way to invite people to...politeness!
> 
> DDT


 
... OK, I'm must be very slow... but please tell me (so I don't repeat the offense!) what is impolite in the "*we are each other's world* " thread?


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## Danielle

Danielle said:
			
		

> ... OK, I'm must be very slow... but please tell me (so I don't repeat the offense!) what is impolite in the "*we are each other's world* " thread?


 

 ... is it the missing 'please/thank you' or is there a bigger fault that I don't see?


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## DDT

Danielle said:
			
		

> ... is it the missing 'please/thank you' or is there a bigger fault that I don't see?



What is the quote about? 

The point is just that some people just post without taking care of whatever sort of polite manner...so that as a member - not as a mod - I'm just quoting another member who proved to be as slightly bothered as I happen to be faced with such a lack...

DDT


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## Danielle

Hi,
 The quote is just me finishing my thought, so you wouldn't think I'm THAT slow 

Thanks for the explanation, I got worried that I might be doing something wrong and didn't see it! 

Danielle


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## Cath.S.

Warning ! 
The following is just my own opinion and no one should take ir personally, please!  
I really don't care about people saying hello or please or whatnot, as long as they phrase their query as a question. Or at least as long as we can understand what it is they want.
But then again that's just me. 
A couple of times, I've sent PMs to new members who had phrased their question in a way that could be deemed curt by more sensitive members, to explain to them they'd get more answers if they rephrased their question. I did it because I know that some members demand formal politeness, not because I do myself.
I also think the thing about "lost words" was funny once, when it was spontaneous, but now I find it rather contrived.
I feel sorry for the people who are on the receiving end of such "wit".
I'm glad Danielle started this thread, as I'd been wanting to express these feelings for a while.
Personally, I like answering questions about language, for me it is fun, and therefore I don't expect people to beg me to have fun or to thank me for having fun. 
When I don't like a question or when I find it boring, I just don't anwer it, as I'm sure all foreros do.


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## DDT

egueule said:
			
		

> Warning !
> The following is just my own opinion and no one should take ir personally, please!
> I really don't care about people saying hello or please or whatnot, as long as they phrase their query as a question. Or at least as long as we can understand what it is they want.
> But then again that's just me.
> A couple of times, I've sent PMs to new members who had phrased their question in a way that could be deemed curt by more sensitive members, to explain to them they'd get more answers if they rephrased their question. I did it because I know that some members demand formal politeness, not because I do myself.
> I also think the thing about "lost words" was funny once, when it was spontaneous, but now I find it rather contrived.
> I feel sorry for the people who are on the receiving end of such "wit".
> I'm glad Danielle started this thread, as I'd been wanting to express these feelings for a while.
> Personally, I like answering questions about language, for me it is fun, and therefore I don't expect people to beg me to have fun or to thank me for having fun.
> When I don't like a question or when I find it boring, I just don't anwer it, as I'm sure all foreros do.



I do respect your position, but - even if it may sound "contrived" - I still believe in politeness. "Vieux jeux"? Well, proud to be old-fashioned. Politeness itself may sound contrived to people posting like that. Which is not my position. Why do you feel sorry about people receiving such a "wit"? Am I being offensive? I am simply bothered by a certain attitude pushing people to behave as if everything was due. And I think of being free to write it. The lightest way I am able to.

DDT


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## Silvia

egueule, I might agree with you, no one answers questions to get thanks or anything in return. Nevertheless, I think it's in the posting member's interest to get the most accurate translation as possible, as well as it's everyone's interest to keep the forums a comfortable place, useful and easy to be consulted.

More and more often I happen to see threads with the very same title or along the same lines "help", "translate this", and the message can be a one word text. No further comment is needed.


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## valerie

We should all remember that the persons accessing to the forum are not necesarily looking for interaction, but have been guided there from the dictionary screen after an unsuccessful search, exclusively looking for the correct translation of a word. If they are accessing for the first time, they may not be aware of the implicit conventions of the forums.

I always try to be totally non aggressive, to take that into account. Nevertheless I thing people have to express clearly their questions, if not this is not the case, I feel free.


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## walnut

> I always try to be totally non agresive, to take that into account. Nevertheless I thing people have to express clearly their questions, if not this is not the case, I feel free.


The same do I and I think this is an appropriate attitude. 
When I first came to the forum I was very shy as I think most of the newbies are and I did understand *nothing* about forum functioning. For this, now I observe what people do after some postings and not only with their first one.  This forum it's not mine ) not only mine); sometimes I get bored too but I think strong replies are uncorrect and they make me feel quite uneasy.
Shy persons are not coming back as I wouldn't have done, particularly if I'd posted in the wrong way... .  Just my opinion, Walnut


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## fetchezlavache

it's not a matter of being aware of 'forum conventions', nor is it a matter of 'begging for a translation'. _it's a simple matter of politeness_. i fully agree with ddt, although i don't have his patience. i have to refrain from replying curtly to some people, and sometimes i fail.


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## Cath.S.

I think this point is worth emphasizing : some people just do not understand how it works, and I feel it is necessary to make allowances for such lack of experience.


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## fetchezlavache

what is there to understand about how it works ? you ask a question, you ask politely. that's how i was brought up. sorry. but i can't see any 'lack of experience' at stake here.


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## cuchuflete

fetchezlavache said:
			
		

> what is there to understand about how it works ? you ask a question, you ask politely. that's how i was brought up. sorry. but i can't see any 'lack of experience' at stake here.



Estimada Colega,
You have said it so well that it bears repeating:  "...that's how i was brought up."   For those of us who absorbed courtesy as an integral way of life in our childhood, there is really little to discuss.  I try to keep in mind that some people had a different sort of youthful experience, perhaps in homes and streets where survival mattered more or where the cultural expectations set by parental behaviour were distinct from what we have
experienced.

For those to whom politeness is a little bit or extremely "foreign", I am obligated to try to be patient, and to coax by example.  Those who are rude can be ignored.  The very few who are malicious and aggressive elicit a strong response from me, generally in a PM, though once in a long while in public.

So long as we behave with civility towards one another, I suppose we can all co-exist here, without a standard of behaviour.  I am glad that most of us in the forum have never had to make any particular effort to be civil, and that the higher levels of courtesy come easily to many.

Best regards,
Cuchufléte


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## lsp

> what is there to understand about how it works ? you ask a question, you ask politely. that's how i was brought up. sorry. but i can't see any 'lack of experience' at stake here.


I was raised well, and I value politeness. Actually I value the Golden Rule, as trite as that may sound. 

But I wonder if I had stumbled into our WR world if I'd never been in a forum before, had perhaps little or no prior online experience, never having IM'd even ... then I searched for a dictionary to look up a word and found a link to the forums, never intending to stay and "chat" with anyone. I might very well have thought of it in the same kind of terms as I did the dictionary, that is, just type in a word or phrase and get a result. I'm sure a lot of the translation requests that are terse or rude-seeming are just people who have no expectation of finding our little community of foreros "living" here. Shouldn't we give them the benefit of the doubt in the nicest, best example-setting way so they understand the right way to join in with us?


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## Cath.S.

lsp, that's exactly what I meant!


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## DDT

Egueule, lsp, please consider a very simple example. When somebody approaches you in the street to ask for an information, what is supposed to be a normal behaviour? To ask directly without even saying "Hi" or "Excuse, me" or "May I ask you a question, please?" or whatever? Or to start a conversation with such expressions as the ones I just quoted? I repeat, I might be looking old-fashioned, yet I still appreciate politeness.

DDT


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## DesertCat

Although I agree with your sentiment DDT, I don't think your Lost & Found post gets the point across.  I was confused by it until I read this thread.


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## lsp

DDT said:
			
		

> Egueule, lsp, please consider a very simple example. When somebody approaches you in the street to ask for an information, what is supposed to be a normal behaviour? To ask directly without even saying "Hi" or "Excuse, me" or "May I ask you a question, please?" or whatever? Or to start a conversation with such expressions as the ones I just quoted? I repeat, I might be looking old-fashioned, yet I still appreciate politeness.
> 
> DDT


I couldn't agree more, with one small exception. When I am stopped on the street it is quite clear that it is human-to-human interaction. 

I imagine my parents, the most old-fashioned, polite, harmless people you'll ever want to meet, but quite elderly, who think everything on the Internet is automated, like a futuristic sci-fi flick of robots in control - not understanding how organic and humanly populated the web is. They would easily make this innocent mistake out of inexperience (these are the same people who are afraid to return _defective_ merchandise if the saleperson was kind, so he won't be offended). And they wouldn't understand the Lost and Found bit at all. They'd just be embarrassed at not understanding, and never return.

Is it fair to expect everyone to understand on the first try that this site is different than an ATM, where you put in an amount, without please or thank you, and out pops cash?

On Mapquest, the most popular American site for driving directions, you enter a street address in the FROM field and another in the TO field, and driving directions result. No "hi, how are you?" required.

And if you still don't agree, that's OK, but I think the Lost and Found reply is too esoteric to make your point to a newcomer.

No hard feelings, DDT. I'm all for making the world nicer, one kind gesture at a time. I appreciate your intent completely.

Thanks (once again) for letting me express myself.
Lsp


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## te gato

Hello;
Here are my thoughts on the subject of politeness.. Yes this is a "Wordreference" site, and maybe people expect it to be like all the other dictionary sites out there, but that is still no excuse for lack of politeness.
I find it nice to have someone say "Hi, could you please translate bla, bla into spanish for me..Thank you" -- Instead of "bla, bla".With the second example I find that I look at it and say, ok, did you want, me to translate that, tell you what it means, give you another word, WHAT!!
Just learning, it takes me 5 years to figure out what they have said and what they want, another 5 years to look everything up..translate, re-translate..so I don't end up telling them that the moon is purple and made out of socks..send it off..and...nothing.  I don't expect roses and chocolates..but a thank you makes you feel glad you put the effort into it.
te gato


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