Formal vs informal

Melita: Hello, listeners. This time around, we’re going to be talking about formal versus informal language, using a few example situations that might happen in real life. Today, I’m here in our virtual studio with two of the Business Spotlight editorRedakteur(in)editors. Would you like to introduce yourselves, guys?

Rachel: Hi, everyone. I’m Rachel.

Richard: And I’m Richard. Hi, Melita.

Melita: Hi, guys. Thanks for joining me. OK, so I’m going to give you some situations and I want you to react as you would in real life, OK? I want to hear how you would improve the messages or the comments that are made, where appropriateangebrachtappropriate, as well. So, let’s start with the first situation. I want you to imagine you are working at a conference and you receive this message from your line manager (UK)direkte( r) Vorgesetzte(r)line manager: “Where are you? Get over to the main stage asap. We need an interview with the main speaker when he gets off the stage.” Right. What do you think about that message?

Rachel: It’s very brusqueschroffbrusque. I understand the sentimentStimmungsentiment, but it definitely could be temper sth.etw. mildern, mäßigentempered. It’s not polite at all.

Melita: What do you mean by that when you say, “It could be tempered”?

Rachel: I think maybe saying something like “Could you get over to the main stage asap?” would be a nicer way to say it.

Melita: Yeah, I think that would be quite a natural way of adjust sth.etw. anpassenadjusting it and making it sound a little bit more polite. What about you, Richard? How would you react if you received this message?

Richard: It’s hard to say because you don’t know the relationship between the two people. Maybe this person always expresses him- or herself like this. I would probably just accept it and just say, “I’m on it.” You know, give a quick response.

Melita: Yeah, I think it’s quite clear from the context that there’s a sense of urgency. So, I can understand why the person is writing it in this tone, but I definitely think there are more polite ways of saying it. 

“Asap”, as well, is an abbreviation that we use, I guess, when we are trying to save time as well. It means “as soon as possible”. So, we tend to write things in shorter format when we’re in a rush. So, that is understandable, I think. 

All right, let’s have a look at the next one. So, you receive an email from a language student. You are their teacher. “esteemed(hoch)verehrtEsteemed teacher, I would like to express my gratitudeDankbarkeitgratitude for your support. My English is truly progressing marvellouslyfabelhaftmarvellously.”

Rachel: Is my student Oscar Wilde?

Melita: Maybe. What do you think could be improved here?

Richard: Oh, well, this is a lovely message. I wouldn’t say it should be improved. It is a little unusual because it’s very formal.

Melita: So, if you were the student writing the email and you wanted to express the same idea, but in more natural English, how would you tell your teacher thank you?

Richard: Well, I probably wouldn’t use a word like “esteemed”, simply because that seems a little stiltedgestelztstilted. I would probably just say, “Dear teacher, I would like to thank you for your help / for your support.”

Melita: All right. Let’s have a look at the next one. You are waiting in line for coffee with other delegates at a conference. “Excuse me, madam. Would you mind most awfullyentsetzlich vielmost awfully if I skip the queue (UK)sich vordrängelnskipped the queue? I’m speaking after the break, you see.”

Richard: I suppose I can’t say what I’m really thinking. Even if you’re not happy about the situation, you’ll probably still be too polite to say what you really think. I would probably just say, “Sure, go ahead.”

Melita: OK, so you’d accept the request. But do you think the way that it’s been expressed is very natural?

Richard: Not entirely. It’s fine, except for the “Would you mind most awfully?” 

Melita: Exactly. Yeah, I’d probably not bother with “madam”. I mean I’m not often referred to as “madam”, and I think that might make me feel a little bit older than I am, to be honest. So, I think that that could be interpreted in the wrong way, as well. It’s not always necessary to call somebody “sir” or “madam”, you know, unless you’re in a situation that is very formal. This is essentially a coffee break, so maybe not necessary. 

OK, let’s look at another example. Your colleague calls you about an urgent project. “This should have been done yesterday. What’s the hold-upVerzögerunghold-up?”

Rachel: rudeunhöflichRude. I think, “Yes, OK, those are the facts.” Maybe the project was duefälligdue yesterday, but if someone sent that to me, I would react like a stubbornstörrischstubborn muleMaultier, Eselmule. I think I would much prefer a more polite request, so: “Hi, Rachel, this project was due yesterday. Do you have an update for me?” And then something like, “It would be great if we could get it finished by EOB (end of business)GeschäftsschlussEOB”, or something.

Melita: I like how you changed “should have been done” to “was due”. I think that’s much more neutral. It sounds like you’re almost scold sb.jmdn. scheltenscolding somebody when you say, “This should have been done yesterday”. And by “scolding”, I mean “tell sb. off (ifml.)jmdn. zurechtweisentelling sb. off, or telling sb. that they should have done something differently”. A bit like, you know, when you’re talking to a child, in a way. All right. Let’s look at another one. A co-worker of 20 years sends you a Teams message after a controversial meeting: “OMG! All this talk of restructuring is doing my head in. Beer after work?”

Rachel: Sounds like something I would say. Absolutely fine.

Melita: Can you explain why it’s fine to talk to your colleague in this tone in this context?

Rachel: I think if it was a colleague you barelykaumbarely have any contact with, that’s something else. But if it’s your co-worker of two decades and you know each other well, you maybe meet after work sometimes. Then, I think an informal tone is completely fine.

Richard: Well, it’s sort of common text language, you know “OMG” for “Oh, my God”, so whether you’re writing on Teams or on your phone or even email, we often use these abbreviations now.

Melita: Yeah, I think, you know, the fact it’s on Teams makes it acceptable as well. Like the mode of communication dictates to a certain extent the level of formality, I think. 

All right, another one. The receptionist at your dentist’s surgery (UK)Praxissurgery rings you to ask to reschedule sth.etw. verschiebenreschedule your appointment. “Hi, love. We’re absolutely be slammed (ifml.)total überlastet/voll seinslammed at the moment. Any chance we could switch your appointment to 10 December? You’d be doing me a do sb. a solid (US ifml.)jmdm. einen Gefallen tunsolid.” Rachel, I can see you laughing. Can you explain why? 

Rachel: It’s weirdlyunheimlichweirdly informal. I mean, I think it’s OK — it’s just about OK up until the final “You’d be doing me a solid”. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that in a professional context at all. 

Melita: When you say “you’d be doing me a solid”, that basically means “you’d be doing me a favour”, “you’d be helping me out”, but it’s very informal.

Rachel: And “we’re absolutely slammed” is also... I mean, that means “we’re very busy”. That’s just about OK, but I think it’s the accumulation of informal language. It becomes too much at some point.

Melita: I think I would be a bit surprised as well if my dentist’s receptionist called me “love”. Like, “Hi, love.” I think that’s quite informal.

Rachel: Well, I’m from almost northern England, and that would be perfectly acceptable in the north, so. 

Melita: Yeah? That’s a good point. And one last one for you. So, imagine you are at a conference, and you’ve just given a talkVortragtalk, and an audience member puts their hand up. They get the microphone, and they say, “First of all, permit me to commend sb. on sth.jmdn. für etw. lobencommend you on your talk and the profoundtiefgreifendprofound insightEinblick, Erkenntnisinsights you shared with all gathered here today.” What are your thoughts on the level of formality there? 

Richard: It sounds very formal. And it depends a lot on how it’s deliver sth.hier: etw. von sich gebendelivered. Very formal language might sometimes sound a little even sarcastic, perhaps, depending on the way the person says it. 

Rachel: I agree with Richard. I think it’s very formal, but at the same time, I think all praise is good praise. So, I would also be thrilledbegeistertthrilled to hear it and would also thank him or her.

Melita: Yeah, I think the sentiment behind what’s being said is obviously positive, but I think it could be rephrase sth.etw. anders formulierenrephrased to make it sound a little bit more natural. 

I think the lesson to be learned here is probably that going for really complex language doesn’t necessarily make your English sound more natural. I think, sometimes, there’s a tendency to think, “Oh, I’ve learned all of these idioms. I have to use them in my everyday language.” But think carefully about context because idioms are usually used in specific contexts, so it could easily alter sth.etw. verändernalter the formality of what you’re saying. Any final takes (ifml.)Bemerkungen, Fazittakes from you guys?

Rachel:  I think if you’re unsure, then always be slightly more formal than too informal. But otherwise, I think it’s something that just comes with time and by listening to the people you’re with, and I think it becomes fairly natural quite quickly.

Melita: Well, thank you for joining me. And listeners, if you would like to follow our activity online, you can find us on our socials: on LinkedIn @business-spotlight, Instagram @business.spotlight_official or Facebook @BusinessSpotlight. We would love to hear from you. In the meantime, take care and enjoy practising your business English.