| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: How do you feel when an email (not mass email) starts with "Hello" without your name? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How do you feel when an email (not mass email) starts with "Hello" without your name?".
This poll was originally submitted by Marjolein Snippe. View the poll results »
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I prefer Hello to Hi or Hey, but I’m actually much more interested in the text than in any polite formula. Not all my correspondence is made in English and most of my clients who use English are not British or Americans, so I give them the benefit of the doubt, and I hope my British and US clients do the same as far as I am concerned…
P.S. I deeply dislike some over-polite emails I get occasionally…
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Some PMs start with "Hello" because they send the same e-mail to the many translators required for their multilingual projects, from FIGS/CAFIGS to many more languages and variants.
I'm also fine with e-mails ending with "Love and kisses", "Yours always" and XXXX.
What really irritates me is wasting my time on non-info.
Philippe
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 10:02
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
...since I prefer strictly professional relationships. A more personal approach is appreciated, but I only care about the basics : decent jobs at my rates that are timely paid.
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Lingua 5B 
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 10:02
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
I feel mass emailed. I have a special folder in my inbox that these are getting sent to. The folder has a name, and that name is not very nice.
[Edited at 2023-12-13 10:10 GMT]
| | | | Brent Sørensen
Germany
Local time: 10:02
Member (2016)
German to English
+ ...
| Doesn’t bother me too much | Dec 13, 2023 |
It’s at least better than starting an email with “Dear Linguist”.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:02
Member (2008)
Italian to English
ProZ.com Staff wrote: This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How do you feel when an email (not mass email) starts with "Hello" without your name?". This poll was originally submitted by Marjolein Snippe. View the poll results »
I feel nothing.
| | | | | 'Hello' is OK | Dec 13, 2023 |
If the sender doesn't know my name, 'Hello' is totally fine by me. My own preferred salutation in business correspondence is 'Dear colleague[s]'. The only one that I find repulsive is 'Hey you' - yes, it does occur in business messages, one of these arrived in my mailbox yesterday.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:02
Member (2008)
Italian to English
ProZ.com Staff wrote: This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How do you feel when an email (not mass email) starts with "Hello" without your name?". This poll was originally submitted by Marjolein Snippe. View the poll results »
I feel nothing.
| | | | Liena Vijupe
Latvia
Local time: 11:02
Member (2014)
French to Latvian
+ ...
I just delete them since those usually tend to be mass e-mails. My clients usually start with "Hello Liena", "Dear Liena" or "Dear translators" when a task is sent to many translators, each working in a different language.
Then again, not all my communication is in English. One PM who writes in Latvian never mentions my name and it never occurred to me to see anything strange about it because the form of her "hello" (sing., fem.) is specific enough to know it's addressed to me.
... See more I just delete them since those usually tend to be mass e-mails. My clients usually start with "Hello Liena", "Dear Liena" or "Dear translators" when a task is sent to many translators, each working in a different language.
Then again, not all my communication is in English. One PM who writes in Latvian never mentions my name and it never occurred to me to see anything strange about it because the form of her "hello" (sing., fem.) is specific enough to know it's addressed to me.
What bothers me slightly is when e-mails turn into a longer conversation over a short period of time (same day or even hour) and every reply starts with "hello". I always find it strange. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I feel nothing... nothing at all, just this gnawing feeling: | Dec 13, 2023 |
Surely, they should know better: Esteemed Linguist, I hope you are having a blessed day and my message has indeed found you well!
More seriously, as long as it's not "yo!" or "oi!", I'm usually more interested in what follows, rather than getting hung up on honorifics.
"Hello" seems perfectly neutral to me. Might raise an eyebrow if that's the first communication, but I wouldn't feel the need to nitpick it.
What's interesting to me is that the poll seems to imply ... See more Surely, they should know better: Esteemed Linguist, I hope you are having a blessed day and my message has indeed found you well!
More seriously, as long as it's not "yo!" or "oi!", I'm usually more interested in what follows, rather than getting hung up on honorifics.
"Hello" seems perfectly neutral to me. Might raise an eyebrow if that's the first communication, but I wouldn't feel the need to nitpick it.
What's interesting to me is that the poll seems to imply that "Hello" [yourname] is somehow expected to be better received. Where I come from,
addressing people by their first name in official communication used to be considered impolite (though these days even banks and other institutions keep doing it).
[Zmieniono 2023-12-13 14:22 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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I am surrounded by Danish culture, which may come across to others as very informal and direct, sometimes almost to the point of being rude, so I probably barely notice. The content of the mail is far more important, and here I do look at style.
Most Danes would include my name at the top, but some have heard that in English it is incorrect to write ´Dear Christine Andersen´, while some people hate being called Ms ... And then how do you know whether to use Miss or Mrs? (Kære ... See more I am surrounded by Danish culture, which may come across to others as very informal and direct, sometimes almost to the point of being rude, so I probably barely notice. The content of the mail is far more important, and here I do look at style.
Most Danes would include my name at the top, but some have heard that in English it is incorrect to write ´Dear Christine Andersen´, while some people hate being called Ms ... And then how do you know whether to use Miss or Mrs? (Kære Christine Andersen is fine in Danish.)
So if people keep it simple and just write Hello, I can understand!
I may feel a bit daunted if the mail starts with Sehr geehrte Frau Andersen, but I try to find a polite phrase in my best German before going over to English for business, and I always try to reflect the style of the greeting at the end.
I respect people who write to me in English, even though they find it difficult, as I simply do not attempt to write much in German, and I know my Danish is not always up to professional standards. ▲ Collapse
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Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 10:02
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
| No particular feeling | Dec 13, 2023 |
Before I decide what needs to be done with this email I read the offer. If said offer sounds interesting, I perform my usual background check and then decide. If the offer includes "best rate", File 13 will be happy to receive it.
[Edited at 2023-12-13 12:41 GMT]
| | | | Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:02
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| If somebody emails me without including my name... | Dec 13, 2023 |
...then I do in fact assume that it was a mass email sent to multiple translators. (I know the title of the poll stipulates "not mass email" but how could you be sure it was not an a mass email if they didn't use your name or some other information that identifies you personally?)
And if it is a mass email sent to multiple translators, that suggests that the sender doesn't really care which of them gets the job.
And if they don't really care which person gets the job, t... See more ...then I do in fact assume that it was a mass email sent to multiple translators. (I know the title of the poll stipulates "not mass email" but how could you be sure it was not an a mass email if they didn't use your name or some other information that identifies you personally?)
And if it is a mass email sent to multiple translators, that suggests that the sender doesn't really care which of them gets the job.
And if they don't really care which person gets the job, that means that they perceive me to be no different to all the other translators.
And if they perceive me to be no different to all the other translators, they are likely to go with the response with the lowest rate, which is almost certainly not going to be mine.
And that means that my default response in this situation is to ignore/delete the email and move on.
My existing clients always address me by name when inquiring about a project.
Why would they not? I use their names as well.
Regards,
Dan ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 10:02
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Same. If my name isn't mentioned, then I assume the email was sent to multiple translators. This does not deter me from evaluating the offer based on other factors. I usually reply anyway, even if only to say that I'm not available for the job. Some PMs remember kindness and politeness, and may as a result turn to me when they intend to send a message to a single translator.
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