#7 – Are you busy, are you available at the moment? Or is this a bad time? (*)

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Séquence Didactique # 7

Dans la série des verbes à particules souvent utilisés, se trouve en bonne position le verbe:

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What do you need to know? 🌍

Ce phrasal verb ayant plusieurs significations très distinctes, je ne m’intéresserai ici qu’à 3 d’entre elles (pour lesquelles j’ai référencé dans la section “Teaching/Grooming” 43 tournures idiomatiques contextualisées), à savoir:

  1. to start a company, organisation, committee etc…(démarrer, créer une entreprise…)
  2. to make the arrangements that are necessary for something to happen (fixer un TV par ex.)
  3. to prepare the equipment that will be needed for an activity so that it is ready to be used (installer, configurer)

Vous trouverez dans le lien ci-dessous, tous les (nombreux) sens de ce verbe, y compris celui de « piéger, faire passer qqn pour un coupable ». Vous voyez que la palette de significations est plutôt large 😱

https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/set-up

Le LONGMAN DICTIONARY (Idoceonline.com – lien ci-dessus) est un excellent outil à conserver absolument  📌.

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Teaching / Grooming 💼

  1. but unfortunately we can only fit 15 g in our current set up (= configuration)
  2. I have a little favor to ask. Would you please email Bob and thank him for the work he did getting the room set up (= mise en place, préparée, aménagée) for the training.
  3. I will set up appointments (= fixer des RV) for 10 and 11.
  4. It is straight call in from HQ (= appel direct du Siège) not a conference call set up (= dans ce cas, ne se traduirait pas littéralement, l’ajout de “set up” vient surtout contrebalancer le “straight call-in”).
  5. I will try and have my Tech, James (copied here) to call you tomorrow to get set up (= mise en place, installation).
  6. We are going to get a machine to him and I will visit on Monday the 21st to set up (voir point 5) and do some training.
  7. This will involve machine set up, machine trouble shooting (= dépannage, diagnostic), and common repairs (= réparations courantes).
  8. Do we want to set up (= organiser) a call with Broker Bros. to discuss the WaterMexico opportunity?  I’m happy to facilitate (= aider, faire le necessaire) (notez: l’expression “I’m happy to” signifie “ça ne me dérange pas de…. “). Just let me know. 
  9. Please let me know your availability and I will be happy to send out the invite and set up the Skype call (voir point 8).
  10. Also, I assume you will all be in Nashville so would like to set up time to connect?
  11. I would like to invite a few of my colleagues to the table and wonder if we might be able to set up a conference call later this week.
  12. Can we set up a call at 2pm?
  13. The Krea is set up and the Winery leadership team will be sampling drinks (= organiser une dégustation) today.
  14. I am out today at Sunflowers Expo set up. (= montage du stand / break down = démontage).
  15. Can we set up a conference call next Tuesday when they are back say approx 3pm GMT.?
  16. Jim and myself are both currently free 5th / 6th. Please advise a day / time that suits you and we can set up a meeting (notez: also arrange, schedule a meeting).
  17. I look forward to continuing our partnership and getting the Machine machine set up in our showroom, I think this will be a big hit (= un grand succès) for our clients.
  18. Hi Paul, please can you complete the attached vendor set up form (= formulaire d’ouverture de compte du distributeur)  and return to me for set up in our systems.
  19. Strange… I’ll send this on to Kennedy and ask her to set up 2 usernames (= prévoir deux utilisateurs).
  20. In order to be set up as a trading vendor (= ici partenaire commercial) can you please follow the instructions outlined below.
  21. I can confirm that you have an account already set up (= un compte déjà ouvert) on our system but we have not received back a signed T&C doc (= Terms & Conditions: Conditions Générales).
  22. You have been set up at 15% discount off list prices (= prix tarif).
  23. Set up a Direct Debit (= mettre en place un prélèvement automatique)
  24. Maybe quicker to set up a hour Zoom call to run through ppt (= parcourir, passer en revue)…. done and dusted as painful as they can be 😊 (= to be complete and finished: c’est maintenant chose faite – mostly used in British English in informal contexts: “By now the deal was done and dusted”)
  25. When I was made redundant, and not having much of an education, I decided to set up my own company.” (= lancer, créer).
  26. He set up Opia in 2006 (= lancer, créer) and built it up (“et en a fait un business international de £30m”) to a massive £30m turnover global business employing 120 staff (notez: l’usage de 120 staff au singulier pour dire “120 personnes”. Cette construction est trés répandue).
  27. Set up and develop ‘WIN’ social campaign (Organic & Paid) (notez : « social campaign » signifie « une campagne sur les réseaux sociaux » , « social » s’utilisant très souvent comme un mot isolé. Organic: naturel, non planifié, se produisant tout seul etc…par opposition à « payant »)
  28. We’re all set up to start our Business & Networking seminar
  29. I have set up a meeting with Mike early next week
  30. my home office is bespoke (= personnalisé, sur mesure), set up perfectly for my needs
  31. Would 10am via a video link work for you? If so I will get this set up and over to you shortly (= “je vous l’adresse sans délai”).
  32. I think I’m right in saying that everything is technically already set up and good to go (= ready).
  33. if you or Bob can set up the meeting from your end (= “de votre côté”) that is best. For some reason we can’t easily initiate Zoom on our Macs.
  34. Thanks again for making the trip and helping with the setup (notez: to help with). I know it was appreciated by our Partner’s in the booth.
  35. Also going forward we all need to speak the same language when we talk about setup (= réglages) or layouts (= configurations)
  36. It was myself that wanted to setup the meeting
  37. RE our discussion (notez: “RE”ou “re” ou “ref” sont utilisés en lieu et place de l’expression complete “with reference to”), the setup I advised would only be appropriate in the instance of
  38. Thank you all for your superb hospitality and for setting up a really positive meeting at the HQ.
  39. They want to talk to you about any other customers that they know of that are setting up businesses (notez: know of = avoir connaissance: “know of someone/something”: to know that someone or something exists and who, what, or where they are. “I only know of one case in which this has happened”. “Do you know of anyone who’s looking for a new car?”).
  40. Are we on for (to be on for: “est-ce que c’est toujours bon /d’actualité ?”): Setting up the 3x machines ready for Cardiff TownHall?
  41. Paul would like to extend his gratitude for all the work Bob and your guys put into setting up the equipment prior to the install at Northampton. 
  42. We know have a site identified where we can trial a machine. Is it worth setting up a call to discuss how best to proceed?
  43. Cheers for setting up things like this morning’s meeting.

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« Mishmash » (**)

Vous quittez un de vos proches et souhaitez donc lui dire « au revoir » et l’embrasser affectueusement, MAIS connaissez-vous les 4 façons de s’embrasser …sans s’embrasser 🤔

1) Sur simple déclaration d’intention

En Français, lorsqu’on veut saluer et quitter un interlocuteur proche, soit en sa présence, soit au bas d’un message écrit, on utilisera la formule « je t’embrasse » (de tout cœur, chaleureusement, très fort etc…). Et on pourra même joindre le geste à la parole si on est en présence l’un de l’autre. Naturellement, comme on pouvait s’y attendre, les anglo-saxons sont plus reservés et n’utilisent pas le verbe « to kiss » (sauf exception ci-dessous…) qui reste beaucoup trop explicite car ils lui préfèrent largement l’usage et le concept du « hug ». La façon la plus neutre de s’embrasser est donc d’utiliser le mot … « love » (sic). Etonnant, non ?

Par exemple, pour dire “je t’embrasse très fort”, on dira « lots of love » (= an informal formula to end a letter to relatives, close friends or romantic partners, etc…) ou  “love from…, lots of love from…” (written, informal) used at the end of a letter to a friend or to somebody you love, followed by your name: “Lots of love, Jenny” ou tout simplement : “Love, Kelly” = Baisers, Kelly.

Exception : entre un père (ou une mère) et son enfant, ou entre deux « true lovers » l’usage du « kiss » sera parfaitement toléré puisqu’il exprimera une réalité : “My father always signed off with “love and kisses, Dad“. Mon père finissait toujours ses lettres par “Bisous. Papa.”

Ou tout simplement “Kisses !” = gros bisous !

Lorsque vous êtes face à face, et que vous souhaitez que la pers onne en face de vous embrasse de votre part une relation proche que vous avez en commun (famille, ami). Réponse :

  1. Give her/him my love = tu l’embrassera pour moi STP
  2. See you. Give Sarah my love = à plus; embrasse Sarah
  3. We all send our love = on t’embrasse tous.

2) Par pure mondanité ou par flemme tout simplement… 😴

Qui n’aura jamais « fait la bise » en se contentant de « mimer une bise » d’un simple geste des lèvres, lorsque par exemple on aperçoit qqn au loin et qu’on ne souhaite pas s’approcher de ladite personne. Réponse “to air-kiss”(= to perform an action similar to kissing someone without touching them with your lips, especially in a way that is not sincere).

1. The party was full of celebrities air-kissing each other.

2. She was one of those people at parties who always looked over your shoulder to see if there was somebody more powerful or more interesting while she was air-kissing you.

3) Quand la paume de la main se fait piste d’envol… 🥰

Vous connaissez, ce geste de la main (voir photo ci-dessus)… Evidemment, beaucoup plus affacetueux que le « air kiss » ! Réponse : “blow someone a kiss” or “blow a kiss” = you touch the palm of your hand lightly with your lips, and then blow across your hand towards the person, in order to show them your affection.

  1. Amy blew a kiss from the door.
  2. She blew a kiss to the cheering crowd.
  3. He blew a kiss at his wife in the audience.
  4. As I finished my speech, she blew me a kiss from the audience.

4) et le petit « texto”? 🎬

L’usage du double “XX” or “xx”  means “two kisses“. (Sometimes, the kisses are in lowercase, sometimes they’re in uppercase, and sometimes a mix of both). As a general rule, an uppercase X represents a big kiss, and a lowercase x is a light kiss (a peck). “xxxx” symbolises a series of kisses, used as an affectionate sign-off or goodbye.

  1. kiss kiss “bye bye” “xx”
  2. Many thanks. Will do. 🙏 xxxx

“XOXO”, means hugs and kisses, with the x representing kisses and the o representing hugs. It’s usually used as a light-hearted way of expressing affection, sincerity, or deep friendship.

Love ❤️

That’s all we needed right now !! 🏆

(*) Je vous dérange ? (“Is this a bad time?” = not the right moment to do something or for something to happen). (**) voir Séquence Didactique #5 – “Mishmash”

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#6 – Ready to get started ? Here’s a couple of things I hope will make you feel more informed…

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Séquence Didactique # 6:

Les formules suivantes toutes-faites (= “set phrases”) sont à connaître impérativement:

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Rule of Thumb 🌍

We often use words without thinking about their impact on the audience. So watch your mouth !…🎯

Le “business jargon” qui produit du “corporate nonsense” est truffé d’expressions qui n’ont souvent pas d’utilité linguistique en tant que tel, qui sont plutôt des accessoires, voire des bouche-trous qui n’apportent rien grammaticalement mais qui apportent ce côté « cool »…

Cependant, ils ont une vertu fondamentale pour les lecteurs de ce blog : ils contribuent à peaufiner et fourbir votre British Touch.

Et pourtant, jamais nos compatriotes n’utilisent naturellement ces expressions « cliché » car ils n’en connaissent souvent même pas l’existence et s’ils en connaissent l’existence, n’ont pas la pratique suffisante pour en faire usage spontanément et à bon escient. C’est ce que nous allons travailler au travers de cette séquence didactique 📊.

Dans la séquence précédente, nous avons parcouru en long, en large et en travers (« right, left and center ») les multiples usages du verbe « to advise ». Dans cette séquence, nous allons observer la prolifération des «going forward» et «moving forward» aussi bien chez les Américains que chez les Britanniques, et que d’une façon générale il vous faudra traduire par « à l’avenir » (= somewhere down the road, from now on). Les anglophones sont en réalité partagés quant à leur usage qui n’apporterait rien à la phrase, si bien qu’aujourd’hui, le monde anglophone se divise en deux à cet endroit précis : ceux qui en font usage sans trop se poser de questions, et ceux qui se bloquent et rejettent purement et simplement leur usage: « Superfluous, meaningless but ubiquitous, it arrived from corporate America and now permeates every area of our lives. It is impossible to get through a meeting today without being verbally assaulted by this inanity. While it may have started in corporate America, “going forward” has now penetrated every area of British life. I blame the businessmen and women of America for that” (The Guardian)

(The Gardian – https://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2011/aug/30/mind-your-language-going-forward)

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Teaching / Grooming 💼

  1. I guess going forward I will need to find time to conduct one on one phone interviews if I expect to get any good information.
  2. I look forward to meeting you and working closely with you going forward. 
  3. Going forward I always thought NSF required the sticker to be on the outside of the equipment.
  4. I greatly appreciate your interest in us moving forward.
  5. I do agree as they were very positive regards moving forward with us.
  6. (…) I am asking you to investigate what can be done in this situation and going forward.
  7. Going forward, can you communicate with Alex and give direction on how we can accomplish the client’s requests.
  8. Also going forward we all need to speak the same ALPHA language when we talk about setup (= ici, montage [d’un stand]) or layouts (= disposition, agencement)
  9. What’s your plan going forward ? – No plan yet. I’m sitting down with Bob Thursday to get up to speed (= se mettre au courant, se mettre à la page).
  10. If (…), your next move (= action, démarche, initiative…attention, pas “mouvement”…⚠️) will be determined by what your plans are for the company going forwards.
  11. It may be worth us all getting together when possible to discuss the action going forward
  12. Just ahead of meeting next Wednesday could we outline a plan going forward that works for us both?
  13. This way at the end of the meeting everyone has full transparency of the situation and what the plan is moving forward.
  14. If everyone is moving forward together, then success will take care of itself (= le succès viendra tout seul).
  15. “Going forward we have to learn from this experience and be more adventurous and be more confident that we can compete with the big boys.
  16. “If we think, going forward, that there’s something, that would actually effectively advance the objective, we would be for it,” he said.
  17. I can write on the invoice who approved it via email (which is how I am doing it now) for you going forward.
  18. you have been great to deal with and wish you every success going forward. Best wishes,
  19. they seem to be of a really high calibre, which should mean we get minimal issues going forward.
  20. Need to on board them slowly due to technical skills and product knowledge but good potential moving forward.
  21. “He will be a tremendous asset to our operation going forward.”
  22. For urgent review by our legal counsel as a basis for a case (= un “dossier” [fig.] A cold case = une affaire classée) moving forward
  23. I believe this has strengthened our relationship moving forwards.
  24. “Going forward I will insure that Geff is included on our communications”.
  25. Each month trading (notez: trade/trading signifie “activité commerciale” et par extension “(clients) professionnels” par opposition à « (clients) particuliers » : “This web site is for Trade Customers only, for retail enquiries please click the Mail Order tab above”) is getting stronger and our prospects and opportunities going forward are becoming more encouraging,”
  26. Yes we will be looking to (= considérer) add the Maeva Plus to our range moving forward .
  27. My suggestion moving forward, would be to…
  28. We’d welcome the opportunity to be a part of the conversation and provide any insights that could be of value moving forward.
  29. (…) has a customer that is interested in moving forward with two location test.
  30. Moving forward I will need more documentation to get our point across (= pour faire passer notre message).
  31. I have posted today two syrups bottles from XpressTop that they would like to use in the machine moving forward
  32. The business bond has always been strong between DupontX and Vincola and I’m sure this trip will help to cement and strengthen this moving forward.
  33. Our company expects to make a profit going forward.
  34. We don’t expect any layoffs a going forward (notez: layoff = the act of stopping a worker’s employment because there is not enough work for them to do  = chômage technique. Lay-off vs Short-Time Working (= chômage partiel): a lay-off is if you’re off work for at least 1 working day. Short-time working is when your hours are cut. Le “lay-off” n’est donc pas un licenciement car il n’y a pas rupture du contrat et donc retour en poste}.
  35. So what is my price going forward??
  36. CEO to company meeting: We have just had 3 major projects cancelled by our main customer sadly…but going forward, there are a lot of great opportunities out there (In this case, “out there”, means “existing” = là / là-bas)

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”Mishmash” 🤔

Le Grand Bain

N’avez-vous jamais été «jeté dans le bain» histoire de tester votre capacité à faire face à une situation nouvelle et délicate pour voir si vous saurez vous en sortir tout seul 😱? Réponse : “to throw someone in at the deep end” (in British English): to put someone into a new situation, job, etc, without preparation or introduction, to make someone deal with something difficult without preparing them for it (notez: le “deep end” correspond à l’extrémité de la piscine où l’eau est le plus profonde…).

  1. He believes in throwing new recruits in at the deep end.
  2. I had never worked in sales before, but my boss threw me in at the deep end, and I learned quickly.
  3. I believe you gain confidence by being thrown in at the deep end.

You can also say that you “jump in at the deep end”, meaning that you choose to do this yourself.

  1. Sometimes you learn more by jumping in at the deep end.

push in (mainly UK)

Certains plus que d’autres ont pris l’habitude sournoise de « carotter » quand ils entrent dans une file d’attente. Ils peuvent être un peu lourds et s’imposer sous vos yeux ou un peu vicieux, genre « ni vu, ni connu ». … le Français n’est pas le moindre des carotteurs, n’est-il-pas ?… 🤔💪

Alors, voici ma réponse dans la langue de Shakespeare: “to push in” (mainly UK) = to rudely join a line of people who are waiting for something, by moving in front of some of the people who are already there. to force one’s way into a group of people, queue, etc. When someone pushes in, they unfairly join a queue or line in front of other people who have been waiting longer.

  1. I was about to get on the bus when two men pushed in in front of me.
  2. A couple of boys pushed in at the front of the queue.
  3. A man tries to push in to the queue…things get heated…(= ça s’échauffe, ça devient tendu)
  4. In some nights out when queueing up, people are pushing in the queue! That’s not very British! ⚠️

Notez: “at the back of the queue” (à l’arrière) / “at the front of the queue” (à l’avant). En American English on n’utilise pas le mot “queue” qui est principalement British English. On utilisera «line».

Il y a encore une autre façon de resquiller une queue : c’est de carrément passer devant tout le monde ! Réponse: “cut in line / jump the line” (both North American English). “jump the queue” (British English) = to go to the front of a line/queue of people without waiting for your turn. 😱

  1. Somebody cut in line in front of me!
  2. I was asked by a large group of visitors to cut in front of them (les visiteurs lui proposent de passer devant)

So, what’s the difference between “jump” and “push into a queue” . I would say that if someone pushes into the queue, they move up a few places so they still queue but are not where they should be. If someone jumps the queue, they go straight to the front and don´t bother to queue at all (voir ci-dessous).

can’t be bothered (mainly UK) = avoir la flemme / ne pas avoir envie

If you can’t be bothered doing/to do something, you are too lazy or tired to do it… 😫😴:

  • I can’t be bothered to iron my clothes.
  • Most evenings I can’t be bothered cooking.
  • Most people surveyed said they were too busy or couldn’t be bothered filling out forms.
  • He drives because he’s lazy and can’t be bothered to get on his bike.
  • I can’t be bothered to clean all those dishes after dinner, so I’ll just leave them in the sink until the morning.
  • “Did you go to Sarah’s party last night?” “Nah, couldn’t be bothered.
  • I can’t be bothered with proofreading (= relire pour corriger les erreurs), so I just post my e-mails as they are, misspellings and all.

Thank you for reading this “séquence didactique” and being part of just a lovely time. I hope this was useful to you…

Love 🥰

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#5 – Will you feel armed with all the creative ammo (*) to perfect the Art of WTFing ? 👌

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Séquence Didactique #5:

Un verbe très utilisé en communication d’entreprise:

qui peut se traduire par: “I will let you know” OU “please let me know”.

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Rule of Thumb

Dans la série des “buzzwords”, le corporate world adore le verbe « to advise ».

“Please advise » est une interjection très fréquente dans la communication d’entreprise (= used to request assistance) et signifie «j’attends vos instructions» ou encore «veuillez m’indiquer si» – «veuillez me faire savoir si» «veuillez me dire si» – «veuillez préciser si» etc….sa version passive donnera «please be advised that…» (= veuillez noter que…).

Autres tournures à utiliser sans réserve : “I’ve been advised that …” (= j’ai été informé que…) ou «can you advise me of …/ which… / what…»

Ce type de buzzwords a l’avantage d’être facile à comprendre par tout un chacun, et donne un côté plutôt « cool » à votre «wording». Les contextes sont extrêmement variés et simples comme vous le verrez dans les 84 tournures idiomatiques ci-dessous. L’essentiel est pour vous d’intégrer ces formules dans votre anglais et de vous les approprier suffisamment pour donner un peu plus de lustre à votre British Touch grandissante 👌

Dans une prochaine séquence didactique, nous examinerons un autre buzzword très répandu dans le monde anglophone : going forward (= à l’avenir).

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Teaching / Grooming

  1. Please be advised that due to an unforeseen technical problem, North Tower is currently experiencing a loss of Internet and Phone Service.
  2. Please advise soonest (notez : l’usage tout simple de “soonest”. On peut faire la même chose avec “latest” = au plus tard : « Hopefully by Tuesday latest » ou « Latest from our solicitor » (= Voici les dernières infos reçues de notre avocat). Ces constructions réduites sont donc parfaitement acceptables)
  3. Please advise status of development with (…)
  4. Please advise. Will you send out a meeting invite with call-in information ?(call in: to telephone somewhere, especially the place where you work, to tell them where you are, what you are doing etc..ici, “call-in information” signifie en fait le no de tel à composer pour participer à une telcon).
  5. This will help us deal with a couple of things that came up this morning.  Please advise.  Thanks.
  6. Let me review with procurement in the morning (voir séquence didactique #3 – Perks)- and advise.
  7. Please advise if (= veuillez m’indiquer / me dire si…) these dates will work for your respective teams. 
  8. Please advise if (voir point7 ci-dessus) the afternoon is a problem for anyone.
  9. We have several activities awaiting the approval from HQ (finalise catalog, finalise training dates, communication to sales, etc), so please advise status.
  10. Please advise if (voir point7 ci-dessus) this is truly required as Jessi really hasn’t acted accordingly. I’ll talk to her based on your response.
  11. I will advise.  Thanks
  12. Bob, please advise if (voir point7 ci-dessus) you got this email, I tried to send it to you on the following email address, but it bounced back (= renvoyé, refusé)
  13. I have already spoken to Kelly and advised her to look at stock exchange announcement that was posted yesterday
  14. Jonathan has advised that he is pushing to get the order through to us next week.
  15. They have been advised that next production will be early September.
  16. I have recently seen Pete with whom I used to work at Pandora.  He advised me that you had a vacancy (= poste à pourvoir) for the role detailed above.
  17. Please advise acceptance of cost and information
  18. Mark advised us that the meeting had been postponed.
  19. Please see below and advise. I am happy (= ça me va, ça ne me gêne pas. “Are you happy if…/ I’m happy to…doit se traduire par “est-ce que ça vous va si…/ ça me va si… il n’y a pas de notion de “bonheur, ou d’être heureux” 😉) if you want to speak to Robert directly.
  20. I will check their availability for the end of the month/start of September and advise accordingly.)
  21. I have been advised that all machines need to be supplied and installed with the customer by the 19th October.
  22. Hope you are well. Can you advise when you think we will get machine in Spain so we can liaise with Experianto ?
  23. Hi Anna, Sales (= les commerciaux) are going back to the customer today with these dates and will advise them we need an answer as soon as possible.
  24. Can you please come back to us and advise as soon as possible
  25. Kelly is talking to the customer this morning and is hopeful of receiving a purchase order today. We will advise if (voir point7) and when this is received.
  26. Hi all, can you please advise on e-mail below (ici = me donner votre avis).
  27. We are being asked if we want to keep the white version or move to an all black machine. Can you advise your feedback asap.
  28. As you can see from e mail below we have been asked to quote for 250 AEDs. Can you please advise a lead time if we were to win this order.
  29. Please be advised of the following travel arrangements for Bob.
  30. please view the attached floorplan and advise me which stand you would like to reserve.
  31. The product manager has advised we sell circa (= environ) 23,000 snack machine per annum (= per year).
  32. Mitch and myself are both currently free 5th / 6th. Please advise a day / time that suits you and we can set up a meeting.
  33. (…) and even if SORAYA asked we would advise the same lead times (= délai de livraison).
  34. Regarding timing of execution, she advised me that normally we would look at 4-6 weeks before all the searches are completed,
  35. Once you advise I can confirm with Stephanie and organise hotel, dinner etc…
  36. Hi, please be advised ref below (“ref” ou même “re” sont couramment utilisés comme la forme réduite de « with reference to »)
  37. If you could advise as soon as possible it would be appreciated
  38. Please can you advise what is possible.
  39. Please be advised that (…)
  40. (…) and it gives him no comfort (= ça ne le rassure pas. A l’inverse “I take comfort from the fact that…” = je suis rassuré par le fait que…) when I advise him that our ETA machines have always had this feature.
  41. You previously advised me of the US code.
  42. Just waiting on (notez: to wait on est parfaitement utilisable à la place de “to wait for”) a call back from our solicitor (= avocat). Will advise position once I have spoken to her.
  43. Could you have a look at this story and advise (voir point7 ci-dessus) if you are happy with (= si ça vous va) the contents please?
  44. For info; will advise if (voir point7 ci-dessus) I hear any more through the day.
  45. Please advise and instruct him that his holiday time is not an excuse for delaying this beyond April.
  46. Please advise soonest (voir point 2). We are already way beyond the timings agreed by all parties
  47. Please advise if possible (voir point7) or offer other dates as early as pos.
  48. Can you advise who is coming and give me some background in readiness (= in preparation)
  49. Please advise costs and we will place order for Friday delivery with the machine.
  50. We write to advise you of a new venue for the AAA Conference 2020
  51. I will advise as soon as I have some feedback.
  52. I understand Stephen has been advised in a delay in production (attention: delay = retard pas délai = faux-ami)
  53. Just to advise we are attending the machine issue site tomorrow (to attend: nous nous rendrons demain sur le site…) as we are not confident the engineer is able to do the diagnostics to the level we require.
  54. I doubt we can do this with all the other commitments next week but if you could advise soonest date (voir point 2)  it would be appreciated
  55. Could you please advise ASAP (prononcer toutes les lettres séparemment A. S. A. P. = dés que possible As Soon As Possible) so I can confirm if first thing Monday (cette expression signifie: “Lundi première heure / Lundi, première chose) is an option?
  56. Happy for you (cette construction signifie: ça me va si / ça ne me dérange pas que tu informes…) to advise the candidates that they have been selected for the second phase.
  57. Can you advise how we are to progress with the below enquiry from BetaX Ireland? (= sur la manière dont nous devons procéder pour répondre à la demande ci-dessous) (notez: we are to = nous devons mais sans la notion d’obligation)
  58. I do need to advise that the restaurant here is currently closed due to COVID-19.
  59. Dear Member; after contacting HMRC today about the VAT reduction to 5% they advised the following: (ils nous ont informés des points suivants:)
  60. They have already advised me they have quotes out (have a quote out: ils ont transmis des devis) for an additional 4 x RayX.
  61. Hello Bob, Just a quick note to ask if this appointment is fixed?? Please advise soonest (voir point 2).
  62. I’ll drop them an email to advise.
  63. We have been advised our current contract expires next year and we have been quoted an early termination fee of £15,446 (= ils nous ont calculé nos frais de rupture anticipée).
  64. We don’t think we should be paying for this transport, unless they advise us otherwise (= à moins qu’ils nous indiquent le contraire)??
  65. Can you advise me of any agreements that we should be aware of ? (= en être informé).
  66. We have been advised that the machines have been delayed to early 2020 but this could move! (= ça pourrait encore changer!)
  67. Can you advise as to when we can expect to receive our order.
  68. late last week I was advised that we needed to make a couple of small amends (= modifications, changements) to the presentation.
  69. I have already had a meeting with both of them last week and I advised exactly that.
  70. RE our discussion (voir point 36), the setup I advised would only be appropriate in the instance of…
  71. Please be advised that due to well publicised issues (= des problèmes bien connus) with raw component supplies, our stock of AEDs is running extremely low (= est extrêmement bas).
  72. Please be advised that our telephone lines are now back up and working (= fonctionnent à nouveau. On aurait pu aussi utiliser: “back up and running”)
  73. had already advised staff to continue working remotely (voir “séquence didactique #2) whenever and wherever possible.
  74. Just to advise Kelly has tested positive this morning – Thanks for letting me know. Will put her down (= je la signalerai, je la noterai) as sick until she returns.
  75. Female bartenders (notez : « female » / « male » sont deux adjectifs qui ne posent absolument aucun problème ! ils indiquent simplement féminin / masculin et s’utilisent couramment = faux-amis…) were advised how to avoid unwelcome attention from Mr Watt
  76. advised female staff (voir ci-dessus point 75) not to wear makeup or wear hair down when Mr Watt was in town (in town / out of town ne se traduit pas littéralement mais plutôt “là, en visite / pas là, en déplacement”).
  77. Please advise your thoughts.
  78. (…) and he was investigating the issue for us. Please advise.
  79. Hi all, I would like to advise you that Julian Dark will be joining us on Tuesday 19th January.
  80. I see this request has not even been acknowledged and simply ignored (ignore: ne pas tenir compte de), can you advise why?
  81. could you advise the outcome (= ce qu’il es ressorti; les résultats) of your meeting with Chris yesterday?
  82. Hi Sara, please can you advise me what this prototype is please in case we get any queries from the client?
  83. Would you be able to (= cette construction est trés utilsée comme forme plus polie que “can you please”) advise what this is for please as we have no idea?
  84. We’d also like to take this opportunity to advise that our offices will be closing for Christmas on 23rd December, re-opening on 3rd January.

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“Mishmash“

(Mishmash – définition: a confused mixture = a jumble: a mass of things mingled together without order or plan. SYN: “a ragbag”)

La section finale de cette séquence didactique sera donc un « mishmash » c’est-à-dire un florilège d’expressions rassemblées  sans ordre ou plan particulier. C’est donc une offre produit à saisir jusqu’à épuisement du stock !… En anglais, on pourrait dire « Snap’em up while stocks last… ». La prochaine séquence didactique vous amènera soit sur un autre “mishmash » soit sur une section traditionnelle « Perks » donc semblable aux séquences didactiques précédentes.

Faire une nuit blanche…

On en a tous fait plus jeune… mais on ne sait toujours pas le dire dans la langue de Shakespeare, n’est-ce pas ? 😉… réponse: An all-nighter (= a time when you spend all night working): “When a client presentation loomed, the team would work round the clock (= for 24 hours), and after this all-nighter they’d go out for a celebratory lunch”. “I pulled an all-nighter last night” (= j’ai fait une nuit blanche)

Have a sweet tooth

Définition:If you have a sweet tooth, you like eating sweet foods, especially candy (US) sweets (UK)

En Français : être plutôt sucré (que salé) / être friand de sucreries. Donc, pour tous ceux qui raffolent des desserts et sucreries en tout genre et qui osent l’avouer… « I have a sweet tooth… »

Quand on veut parler de “salé” on dira “savoury” (attention: pas “salty” !! 😀) = sweet & savoury

foodie (also foody)

Définition: a person who loves food and is very interested in different types of food:

En Français: un gourmet, qqn qui aime cuisiner et bien manger… « A box of these would make a lovely gift for a foodie”. “I am a foody, and I love cooking for myself”.

green-fingered / green fingers (UK) > (US green thumb / green thumbed)

Définition: the ability to make plants grow

En Français: avoir la main verte “You really do have green fingers“. “He had green fingers, my grandfather. He could grow anything“.

brown thumb (plural brown thumbs)

Définition: lack of skill at growing plants; something possessed by a poor gardener.

En Français: l’exact opposé de “green fingers = ne pas avoir la main verte…”Spanish Jasmine is a perfect option for gardeners with brown thumbs”.

What’s that? Say (it) again ! Come again ! How’s that again ? Pardon (me) ?

Sont des expressions utilisables sans réserve à la place du traditionnel «sorry» (= pour demander de répéter lorsqu’on a mal entendu ou mal compris ce qui vient d’être dit) et donnent une plus grande British Touch à votre franc-parler. Remarque : « What’s that » est très répandu aux US et un peu plus « colloquial » (= familier) alors que les autres formules sont évidemment très polies…

“Would you like some coffee? – How’s that again? – I said, would you like some coffee?”. “Say again… I didn’t quite hear you”.

At the risk of repeating myself”

A fixed phrase used to mean “I acknowledge that I have already said this, and I will say it again.” La traduction littérale convient parfaitement “Au risque de me répéter…”

how’s that for…?

Une expression que peu de Francophones connaissent mais qui est très utile et courante et qui a son équivalent en Français…réponse : Si ça c’est pas…. (dans le sens « n’êtes-vous pas d’accord que ce que je viens de faire est une belle démonstration (de la chose en question) »

The papers are all here ready for you to sign. How’s that for efficiency? = « Si ça c’est pas de l’efficacité!… ou “c’est pas de l’efficacité, ça …? »

How’s That For Customer Service! = “Si ça c’est pas du service client !… »

Dave won $1,000 on the first lottery ticket he ever bought. How’s that for luck? = “Si c’est pas de la chance, ça…?”

(*) A shortening of the word “ammunition” 

I hope there is something here for you! Let me know if there is anything I can do to help you 🙂

Love ❤️

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#4 – If you agree I would like to keep this ball rolling… (*)

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Séquence Didactique #4

(faire un suivi, donner suite, faire le point) / (pour faire suite à)

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Rule of Thumb

“Follow up” et “follow on from” sont très utilisés dans la communication d’entreprise. Dans cet article nous donnerons donc 49 exemples contextualisés.

Par ailleurs, il faut savoir que les verbes à particule (phrasal verbs) sont très courants en Anglais (up, down, through, along, off, over etc…) alors que si peu familiers pour un francophone car nous n’en utilisons pas. Autre particularité, en anglais, énormément de verbes ont leur équivalent en phrasal verbs. Par exemple : to put off = to postpone / to show up = to arrive / to make up = to constitute, to form / to cut off = to separate from others, to isolate etc…ils sont partout !! L’avantage, c’est qu’on peut utiliser indifféremment l’une ou l’autre forme sans règle particulière, c’est selon ses habitudes…

La particule “up” est particulièrement utilisée et apporte deux sens majeurs (mais pas uniquement…) :

1) transforme le sens d’un verbe en sa version « figurée ». Exemple : open = ouvrir (une porte, un livre, etc…) deviendra to open up = ouvrir son esprit, une piste de réflexion, etc…). To give (donner) deviendra to give up (abandonner : to abandon what one is doing or planning to do)

2) renforce ou pousse l’action à son extrême. Ainsi, open up dans sa forme impérative « open up ! » signifiera « ouvre cette porte immédiatement ! ». De même, to eat deviendra to eat up pour signifier “finir de manger : Eat up your lunch !. Finis ton déjeuner ! To pay deviendra to pay up pour signifier « régler tout ce qu’on doit (particulièrement quand on ne le souhaiterait pas…» : Eventually they paid up, but only after receiving several reminders…

Les autres particules contribuent de la même façon à donner un sens spécifique à une verbe « généraliste » : off (éloignement par rapport à un point de départ), through (accomplissement, traversée d’un bout à l’autre, réussite), down (diminue ou rabaisse), over (déplacement d’un point à un autre) etc…

Un francophone aura malheureusement tendance à ne jamais utiliser ces prasal verbs alors qu’ils apportent incontestablement une British Touch à votre communication. Par exemple les expressions: « Let’s pick up where we left off : reprenons là où on s’était arrêté » ou “Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again ” (pick yourself up: relève toi) (dust yourself off: se reprendre, se ressaisir) (start all over again: et recommence tout à zéro) sont faciles à mémoriser; vous devriez donc vous les approprier!

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Teaching / Grooming

Voici une liste contextualisée de follow up (ainsi que le nom correspodant follow-up) et de follow on from (pour faire suite à)  :

  1. In relation to point #xx below, we have a board meeting during the first week of May and will discuss with the family. I will follow up after the meeting.
  2. (…) and will follow up tomorrow morning if I haven’t heard back.
  3. I will be doing another on location follow up next Thursday afternoon.
  4. They have an excellent reputation for service and follow up.
  5. We don’t do a good job of follow up (on n’est pas très bon en suivi = on pourrait (on devrait) s’améliorer).
  6. Per our discussion, please follow up accordingly (“per our discussion” = comme discuté).
  7. Since I didn’t hear back from you, I wanted to follow up with our item on backorder (= reliquat de commande non livrée).  Appreciate any follow-up.
  8. Please see the lead (= piste prospect), below from ITEMUX and follow up accordingly with this customer.
  9. Thank you for the follow-up note (= note de synthèse) from the HQ meeting.
  10. Hey Eric, hope all is well…Do you want me to follow up with your customer directly?
  11. I will follow up with the team tomorrow to see when the second payment of $510k will be wired (= virer; faire un virement bancaire).
  12. Following up on Flor’s note below (je fais suite au message de Flor).
  13. so you could follow up with the request or pass it along to one of your distributors in that region (notez: pass along to = transmit information / SYN: communicate, pass on).
  14. I shot you an email but thought I’d follow up with a text (notez: on peut parfaitement “shoot” un email mais aussi “drop” an email, a note etc…/ “I thought I’d (= I would)” est trés utilisé dans le sens “je préférais + verbe / text = SMS, texto).
  15. They would like to know what the timeline is (timeline: a plan for when things will happen or how long you think something will take – used especially in business English = calendrier, délai.), and would like to come in for a follow up as soon as it is ready.
  16. Follow up meeting in person on 15 Nov with M. and our team.
  17. The follow ups from our call today are noted below.
  18. Following on from our conversation we have asked them to build another 30 machines which will take our total stock holding to 81 (va porter notre stock à 81 pièces).
  19. Just as a follow up from our meeting on Friday
  20. Following on from our earlier telephone conversation I thought you may find the attached article from a specialist legal magazine of interest
  21. I have had a few follow up calls today and given your contact details out (voir la section Peks en bas de page).
  22. I am just following up regarding the contact you made with us.
  23. Following on from your email
  24. A quick follow up message to let you know that the below offer is due to expire tomorrow.
  25. This is a courtesy follow up to the email I sent over to you last week (notez: send over to).
  26. Also following on from Bob’s questions do you have any update on the expected date of the new software?
  27. Following on from the previous sales meeting where we spoke about getting more customer face time.
  28. Hi Chris, following on from our conversation I have prepared a (…)
  29. Hi Bob, just a follow up to my mail below last week.
  30. Yes, absolutely crucial that we follow up.
  31. and we have a date set for next Wednesday to follow up on the progress.
  32. Just to keep you informed, the follow up meeting due to happen this afternoon has been moved to Friday morning, (notez: move a meeting)
  33. so I will email you with an update / progress following the meeting.
  34. Hi Hervé, following on from your email below, I have attached a proposed agenda to send to Bob.
  35. I am just following up on the payment agreement we had in place (…). Please can you confirm the payment status?
  36. and this will be followed up internally and processed on JDE as normal (comme d’habitude)
  37. Hi Folks, attached is the summary of last week’s e-shot (l’e-shot es ten envoi d’emails en masse très utilisé en Marketing) for following up and tidying up the customer base (tidy up: nettoyer, purger).
  38. I just wanted to follow up on my email below as I had a conversation with another customer
  39. Hi folks, attached is the summary of last week’s e-shot for info and follow up.
  40. Thanks for following up on this.(merci d’avoir fait suite = de t’en être occupé. La forme progessive “ing” s’utilise pour marquer le fait que l’action a bien eu lieu).
  41. Following on from my post yesterday about the challenges around recycling coffee cups,
  42. Following on from the email below are you able to offer any support?
  43. Party’s over (la fête est finie)…now the real work of following up on leads begins.
  44. Please ensure that you fill these in with details of the discussion and what follow up actions are required and when.
  45. Hi – as a follow up to the email below,
  46. Following on from the installation of the replacement Firewall the other week, we will …
  47. I hadn’t heard anything further so thought that it was sorted (j’ai pensé que c’était réglé) but will follow up with them now.
  48. if you could please review the contacts in these lists to ensure that they are followed up with quickly
  49. Which we will be following up with phone calls.

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Perks (tips)

Contact details

Quand on veut donner ses coordonnées (nom, email, tel, adresse) ou les demander à son interlocuteur on utilise « contact details » qui peut aussi se réduire à « details »

  1. We have agreed the way forward is for me to provide her contact details directly to Mr. G. so that he (…)
  2. Our primary contact will be Dale Binner. If you require contact details from Dale, please do email TTX and we will pass on details.
  3. I have asked for contact details for placing orders and will share with you once I have it.
  4. My contact details below.
  5. It was great to meet you again at the exhibition in Cardiff, as you requested please find my contact details below.
  6. I have had a few follow up calls today and given your contact details out (prasal verb: give out = ici, distribuer, remettre).
  7. Full contact details are below and I have attached a members list for your convenience.
  8. I will send you over my customers contact details (phrasal verb: send over = faire parvenir)
  9. For your information, here are the contact details of the lady I’ve been put in touch with regarding designing the reception area.
  10. You have been given all the contact details on several occasions. 
  11. Also could you please confirm your Skype contact details..?
  12. Thanks Bob, remind me of the contact details for the UK? I can’t find them.
  13. He says it will become compulsory for venues to take customer contact details for track and trace.
  14. Thanks, I’ll pass on your contact details and let him know that tomorrow would be convenient.
  15. New legal requirement to record the contact details of customers, visitors and staff on their premises.
  16. Most venues required customers to provide contact details to support contact tracing,
  17. Your details have been passed over to me by our UK branch  as their main Distributor for London (phrasal verb: pass over to = transmettre, communiquer)
  18. Hi Mike, I hope you are well. Your details have been passed over to me by Bob (voir point 17 ci-dessus).
  19. I have been passed your details from Caroline relating to some work that you had done on (…)
  20. “If a pub or restaurant doesn’t ask for your details … move on, go elsewhere, because that premises is not keeping you safe.”
  21. I have sent your details across to Dale.
  22. please call me on 07781 xxxxx and if unanswered please leave a voicemail with your details.
  23. I can pass his details onto you or ask him for a CV.
  24. I have copied him into this email so you have his details.
  25. Thanks Nigel. Do you have his details at all ? (at all (= in any way, to any extent) pourrait ici se traduire par « quelquepart » « par hasard » et s’ajoute souvent en fin de question pour souligner le point, (différent donc de la forme négative que nous connaissons tous : not at all). Par exemple : “Hi  – Hope you are well?  I was wondering if you were free for a chat at all?” ou “Here’s the draft of tomorrow’s e-shot – please let me know if you think we need to adjust it at all“ou “Did you sit down at all?” est-ce que tu t’es assis quelquepart ? (dans la pièce) ou “Are you at all interested? No, not the least bit” ou encore “She works full time and if she has children at all it will be as late as possible

That’s all from me for now, as soon as I have development to share I will be in touch. 😉👌

(*) to cause an activity or process to continue = tenir le rythme, veiller à ce que tout marche bien: “(…) so we will be able to outline our next steps and put a plan in place so as to keep the ball rolling”

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#3 – Seriously, you’re smashing it (*) Massive thanks for your awesome work…

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Séquence Didactique #3

comment remercier ou exprimer un sentiment de gratitude / reconnaissance en ayant recours aux seules formules couramment utilisées par les natives.

Rule of Thumb

Les Britanniques – comme les Américains- ne craignent pas de pratiquer la “gratitude”. Faire des remerciements peut sembler tout à fait banal, mais il faut quand même maîtriser un peu cette « soft skill ». Les “soft skills” ce sont cet ensemble non quantifiable de traits de personnalité, d’attitudes, l’« étiquette » qui constituent de véritables « building blocks » (the basic things that are put together to make something exist) pouvant faire de vous des « difference makers » (an ordinary person who accomplishes extraordinary things by creating positive change). Exemple de « soft skills » : Commitment to success / Building, developing and managing teams / Persuading / Not making excuses / Going the extra mile / Strong work ethic and everything else related to working with people and getting things done. L’art du remerciement bien léché en fait partie…

I can’t lie either… (=on ne va pas se mentir) tout me monde apprécie « a pat on the back » (a praise for something that you have done well) et à l’heure de la psychologie positive, savoir exprimer sa reconnaissance, c’est tout simplement une bonne pratique à intégrer dans la culture d’entreprise. Tout le monde y gagne . Or beaucoup d’entre nous se sentent parfois maladroits à formuler des remerciements en anglais avec compétence… et il n’y a pas que des « pat on the back » il y a aussi les simples remerciements pour avoir aidé ou passé du temps sur un prob, transmis une info, pris contact, tenu un engagement, hébergé un meeting, reçu en « grandes pompes » etc…etc…il y a donc une variété impressionnante de situations qui mérite toute notre attention.

Ne soyez donc plus préoccupés, j’ai rassemblé pour vous ce qui se fait de mieux en la matière ! (attention, “a lot of food for thought” : un stock de 202 expressions idiomatiques, livré sur un plateau…). A vos copier/coller!

Dans un prochain post (ou deux), nous étudierons plus en détail l’usage des mots « feedback » et « follow up » qui sont des incontournables en entreprise !

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Teaching / Grooming

Voici pour vous, mon panel de 202 expressions contextualisées:

  1. I hope your trip home was uneventful.  Thank you for coming to the show and for taking time to sit and discuss the forward direction of the business.
  2. I look forward to your reply. Thank you in advance,
  3. Thanks again for making the trip and helping with the setup. I know it was appreciated by our Partner’s in the booth (booth est la version américaine / stand est la version britannique que je vous recommande largement à l’oral car tellement plus facile à prononcer… le « th » final du “booth” étant souvent massacré (« butchered ») par les non natives 🙂…)
  4. I just want to say thanks for your support.
  5. I would like to thank you and your people for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet with us yesterday.
  6. Herve, thank you for looking into this. (merci de t’être occupé de ce prob)
  7. Thanks for continuing help in this matter
  8. Thank you everyone for your participation in this week’s sales meeting.
  9. Thanks to everyone for the quick response.
  10. Thank you in advance for sharing any information you find.
  11. Thanks for being in touch.
  12. Thanks for a very good day. I appreciate the help. 
  13. Thanks Justin for the additional new business.  We appreciate very much our growing partnership.
  14. thanks for getting back to us with the information. (merci d’être revenu vers nous avec l’info : l’usage de la forme progressive « ing » marque ici l’après-coup. Idem lorsqu’on rencontre qqn: « nice to meet you » puis se sépare: « nice meeting you », la rencontre a eu lieu)
  15. Thanks for the info.
  16. Thanks for taking the time to chat. Per our discussion, here’s the full list of products…(per our discussion = comme discuté / comme vu ensemble)
  17. Thank you. Appreciate it
  18. Thanks again for taking the time to spend with me the other day going over the broken machine.
  19. Thank you for taking my call earlier today.
  20. Thank you for your kind words. 
  21. That sounds good.  Thanks for your efforts.  It will be interesting to see where the pricing ends up.
  22. Just wanted to thank you for stopping by (= faire une halte, rendre visite) our booth at NoMu. (voir point 14)
  23. Thanks in advance for the help.
  24. Thanks for the for the follow-up.  We look forward to receiving the information.
  25. Thanks, Bob.  We appreciate the help.
  26. Thanks for the referral. We know this customer and will reach out and connect with them today.
  27. I would like to thank you for your time.
  28. Thanks for your insight.(= thanks for your input / feedback)
  29. Thank you very much for the quick assistance, Herve. It is much appreciated.
  30. Thank you. I will look forward to hearing back from you
  31. With thanks to each of you for the input.
  32. Thanks Mitch. I have passed this onto our area sales director in FL.
  33. We want to thank Pete for his time spent with ABC and wish him well in his new opportunity.
  34. Thank you for your hospitality in hosting us for the meeting yesterday.
  35. Thanks for taking the time to catch up by tel. 
  36. Happy to talk further. Thanks. (court message à la fin d’un email pour se préparer à de futurs discussions)
  37. Thank you for your interest.
  38. Thank you for reaching out. 
  39. Thanks for taking the time to reach out (reach out: joindre qqn)
  40. It was good to meet you. Thanks for the update and info on the Mariner II
  41. Thanks again and if I can be of service please feel free to ask.
  42. Thanks, David.  We really appreciate the help and quick turnaround.  Nice teamwork. (quick turnaround = rapidité de reaction / de mise en œuvre).
  43. Thanks for everything and at least I know we would not be at this point without you. And for that alone I am truly grateful.
  44. With thanks in advance (à la fin d’un email).
  45. Thanks for checking in (check in: ici, prendre des Nouvelles).
  46. A massive thanks for an amazing day.
  47. Many thanks to all of you for joining us yesterday.
  48. Thanks David, Fabulous day and great company.
  49. Just to add my thanks for the excellent day yesterday, really enjoyable and great to see you all,
  50. Just a brief note to thank you for your time and support on yesterday’s visit to the UK office.
  51. I just wanted to pass on a massive thank you from all of us that attended Italy earlier in the week
  52. Just a quick e-mail to thank you both for a wonderful trip to Italy,
  53. Thank you for your communication. I will give it my full attention
  54. Firstly wanted to say thank you for your support with Express Ltd (notez: support with, help with)
  55. Morning All, Thanks for the email Paul. It was a pleasure meeting all of you yesterday (voir point 14)
  56. Thank you for your time yesterday, it was an absolute pleasure to meet you all.
  57. Just a brief note to thank you for your time
  58. Thank you for all your efforts preparing the machines, issues and documentation etc which I think worked really well on the day. (= le jour J)
  59. Many thanks for letting me know (voir point 14)
  60. Thanks for your help with this, this is great news…..(voir point 54)
  61. Great thanks I have booked you a place at the seminar and the lunch afterwards.
  62. I just wanted to say thanks for yesterday — it was very good and I got a lot out of it – I look forward to the next showcase!” (showcase: mise en avant)
  63. I thank you for the invite..it has been a great few days to say farewell and good wishes. Will see you Wednesday….
  64. I would like to thank you for your kind hospitality last week during my visit to Madrid.
  65. Thanks for confirming I will arrange. (=+/- je m’en occupe après avoir reçu un accord sur un projet)
  66. Thanks for your input on both of the above (= les deux sujets ci-dessus).
  67. Thank you for the below (= merci pour (l’info) ci-dessous)
  68. Hi Herve, a pleasure to see you today, and thank you for taking the time to visit our HQ at Gatwick.
  69. On behalf of the members I am writing to thank you for hosting the meeting,
  70. I have forwarded on (= faire suivre) your note to members of my team with your answers, thanks for the prompt turnaround (réaction / mise en oeuvre)
  71. Thanks for your follow up note
  72. thanks for your time and apologies re late evening message
  73. Thank you for yours and Anthony’s time yesterday
  74. Thank you for returning the documentation. I now enclose your copy for your safekeeping (= à conserver)
  75. We would like to thank Vicky for her service to the association and leadership on the board.”
  76. Just wanted to drop you all an email today to thank you all so much for hosting us in Rome last week. You really did spoil us!
  77. I just wanted to send a note to say a massive thank you for hosting us last week.
  78. I wanted to thank each of you for hosting us last week. Your hospitality was second to none and altogether was a fantastic experience.
  79. Thank you so much for showing us such a great time last week. Spending time in Paris was a fantastic experience,
  80. I just wanted to say thank you so much for the trip to Italy last week, you really did spoil us!
  81. Thank you all for your superb  hospitality and for setting up a really positive meeting at the HQ.
  82. I know how much work goes into these trips so thank you for making it an experience the team will not forget.
  83. Thanks again and I look forward to strengthening our business partnership.
  84. Hi Team X-Vending, thank you so much for all that you did for us last week.
  85. Thanks for your quick reply. Much appreciated
  86. Can you please pass my thanks on to Steve  – he was a great teacher!
  87. Also, please pass my thanks on to Paul who is always very helpful when I ring up with a query.
  88. Hope you are well, thanks for getting in touch!
  89. Hi Ben, thanks for sending this over. (notez send over = faire passer, transmettre)
  90. Hi Herve, thanks for coming back to me so quickly. You’re in for 12noon.
  91. Thank you for forwarding this on, it is much appreciated (notez: forward this on = faire suivre)
  92. Thanks for your help with this (notez: help with this)
  93. An enormous ‘thank you’ to everyone involved in this prestigious acknowledgement including our great customers, top team and dedicated distributor network.
  94. Thank you for passing this letter on to us
  95. Make today awesome and I wish you all the best! Thank you for listening and enjoy your day.
  96. Thank you. Always on the phone if required. (on peut toujours me joindre au tel si besoin)
  97. Bristol has welcomed us with open arms and we wish to offer our sincerest thanks to all our wonderful customers, suppliers and staff.
  98. Nice to meet you yesterday and thank you for introducing yourself.
  99. Thank you for the timely update.
  100. Hi Giuliano Thank you for your quick response into the matter.
  101. I would just like to thank you and your extended team (l’ensemble de votre équipe) for the opportunity to meet with you all over the last few days
  102. Great, thanks for your help, I’ll book that in now. Matt (je bloque le créneau horaire).
  103. I will get on it. Many thanks (get on it: je m’en occupe / oralement, on pourrait même se limiter à dire « I’m on it »))
  104. Just a quick e-mail to thank you for yesterday, it certainly was appreciated.
  105. I would also like to say a massive thank you to Liz, Mark and Mitch
  106. Thanks for the speedy reply.
  107. Please can you pass on our thanks to Steve and the team
  108. Thank you for sending this across and thank you and Mike for your time earlier on (notez: send across = transférer).
  109. Thanks for this – I have caught up with Paul and he would prefer Wednesday AM for his Skype interview
  110. Hi Julian That is fine with me, thank you for letting me know.
  111. When this is all over, we gonna paaaaarty! – thank you and the same back at ya.  Roll on the parting
  112. Thanks, please put the bill in the bag and I will put payment in your post box.
  113. Firstly and most importantly, we would like to say a huge thank you for all your patience and support during these difficult times.
  114. Fab, thanks – nothing on there I wasn’t aware of.
  115. They said in a statement: “We are honoured and humbled to have been recognised in this way, and we give our thanks to the incredible team of professionals who we work with at (…).
  116. Morning Herve, all fine thanks. How about you?
  117. Hi Herve, we are all well thank you. We are still operational at about 40% capacity so doing a lot better that some of the industry.
  118. Good morning everyone. If anyone is going out, could they please get us a copy of The Sun. Many thanks. Ken 104. 🙂
  119. Thank you Herve I’ll sort out the paperwork and get this returned to you.
  120. Hi Marco, thank you for the prompt information.
  121. Thanks Geoff we’ll be on it on Monday. 👌
  122. I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to call me earlier, I really appreciate this
  123. Many thanks for sending this across (voir point 108)
  124. Great thanks for that. Vicky will revert soonest.
  125. But today I want to say a huge thank you to all of our team members
  126. Thank you for your time and knowledge shared.
  127. Thanks, I’ll pass on your contact details and let him know that tomorrow would be convenient.
  128. “I want to thank all of my friends and colleagues who have reached out to ask how I was feeling in the last day or two.
  129. Hi Kay, yes it did thank you so much. Can I return it later?
  130. Many thanks for your time and please keep me in the loop with any changes.
  131. Dear Hervé, thanks for all your support and for the introduction to Jim.
  132. Thank you for the team and your time on the video call last week,
  133. Thank You for an excellent presentation session
  134. Hi both, I really appreciate your time this morning and thank you for being supportive on this project.
  135. Thanks again for your continued support
  136. Hi Herve, great thanks 😊
  137. Ciao Pete I just wanted to drop a quick note to say thank you for everyone’s involvement on the webinars over the last few months
  138. Also, a big thanks to the wider team at Aribac Foods,
  139. Thanks Steve that’s really appreciated…
  140. Thank you to the wonderful colleagues and customers who put on such a great last day celebration for me today.
  141. Thank you John. I have been so very lucky to have met so many great people like you in my career. Hope my luck continues through this next phase
  142. I must imagine this (oui…j’imagine!) and thank you so much for your time. I wish you the very best of the rest of the week. Thank you again.
  143. Simply thank you. I will do everything I can to repay the trust and confidence given to me by the people of our great region.
  144. Thank you for trusting me to lead our endeavour (endeavour: projet, initiative)
  145. Hi Hervé, thank you for your note and apologies for the delayed response.
  146. Thank you to Mark and the team at Great Vending for their time and hospitality on my visit today
  147. Thanks for following up on this.(voir point 14)
  148. Amanda really is a true gem, her commitment is endless and I for that can’t thank her enough.
  149. Thank you for your quick response with this matter
  150. Thanks Steve, speak shortly on teams call. Kind regards
  151. Hi Bob, thank you so much for looking into this (look into: s’occuper du prob).
  152. Thank you Malcolm and Tom for going above and beyond to get everything in place.
  153. I have a lot to thank Collin for, he is putting a lot of faith in me to help him grow his business
  154. Thank you everyone for making it a great event.
  155. “We thank Simon very much for his hard work and commitment to the business and wish him the very best for the future,”
  156. Hi Franco and Karen, just wanted to express my thanks for setting up the (…)
  157. Thank you very much for the great service, highly recommend!
  158. Hi Mark, that is brilliant, thank you so much for your assistance with this.
  159. Thank you, it doesn’t go unnoticed the difference you made.”
  160. A big thank you to everyone that supported me, both on the day and virtually (par video).
  161. We would like to take the opportunity to thank you for your continued business and support
  162. Thank you to all the team at LOGOMA for putting on such an event.
  163. “Really overwhelmed by the outpouring of love this evening. Thank you so much for your support.”
  164. Dear Paul, thank you kindly for your supplied information.
  165. Great to talk to you just now, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule.
  166. thanks mate. always welcome if you are passing.
  167. Thanks to everyone who joined us at our stand and said hello! (and everyone who posed for a picture 😉)
  168. Hi Ian, thank you so much for your lovely words 😊
  169. We thank you for your continued support and business during 2022,
  170. I would like to thank Mark, Bob and the team from GANT for all of their help and guidance,
  171. Hi Olivier, thank you for the information you supplied, much appreciated.
  172. Thanks for signing up (sign up: s’inscrire; attention pas “signer”). Click the link below to confirm your subscription and you’ll be on your way (“et c’est parti”).
  173. but I thought I’d drop you a quick message of thanks!
  174. Thanks for dropping in! (drop in: passer voir qqn).
  175. John, thank you for your note and apologies for the delay in responding
  176. Thank you so much, the best possible start I could have hoped for!
  177. It’s safe to say the bar is set pretty high now. Just wanted to say thanks for organising such a brilliant webinar.
  178. Massive thanks for your awesome work
  179. Loved this morning’s webinar – it’s got me really fired up for the day 🙂 Thank you!
  180. thanks for all you do!
  181. Hi Siobhan, thank you for sending this over so promptly.
  182. Thanks so much for your feedback, it’s lovely to hear your positive comments.
  183. Thank you for everyone that’s taken part, sorry if anyone has been missed out. Good Luck everyone
  184. Let me know your thoughts. Thank you, Paula.
  185. Thank you for your time on the phone yesterday, I hope you found it helpful.
  186. Finally, I’d like to thank myself. Because if it wasn’t for me (= sans moi…), none of this would have happened.
  187. would like to extend a big thank you to my leader, Mark for his leadership
  188. Thank you and speak to you soon.
  189. it was a pleasure to meet you both and thank you for taking the time out to come along and visit us.
  190. Thank you for reporting this.
  191. Thank you for confirming.
  192. Mark is a credit to MENDOS Group; just like to say thanks for his time and effort
  193. Thanks Tony, appreciate it. Catch up soon, long overdue (= ça fait longtemps qu’on aurait dû le faire).
  194. Thank you Mitch, appreciate the positive words. Hope you are keeping well.
  195. Thank you for the speedy responses!
  196. Thanks for the update and the support in getting this sorted. Much appreciated
  197. The template has been set for future events (template: ici = format, shéma). Thank you so much for your support!
  198. Thank you for the update, I will proceed to make an offer.
  199. Thank you to those who took chances on me, imparted wisdom (aka patiently trained me until the penny dropped) (to impart wisdom = transmettre la sagesse / aka = Also Known As = c’est à dire, on peut dire aussi / the penny drop = faire tilt, comprendre, avoir un déclic).
  200. I’d like to thank my colleagues, both past and present for always having my back (have my back = me soutenir / have your back: te soutenir), a tight knit (soudée) unit is a good place to be.
  201. Lovely to speak to you, thank you for your help. You have a great evening too.
  202. Firstly, thank you for allowing time to meet up and thank you for settling the tab (settle the tab = régler l’ardoise, l’addition au restau)

Une dernière formulation spéciale à connaître (pour les très avancés…)

  • Thanks for having me (cette expression est quasiment systématiquement utilisée à la radio lorsqu’un invité termine son interview = « merci de m’avoir reçu »)

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Perks (tips)

In the morning

Les Britanniques utilisent beaucoup l’expression « in the morning » à la place de « tomorrow morning ». Donc, si vous parvenez à vous familiariser avec cette formulation locale, votre British Touch n’en sera que plus belle :

  1. I’ll check in the morning if we have anything
  2. I’m afraid I’m not in the office until tomorrow, would that be Ok to wait until then? First thing in the morning should be fine for us.
  3. What time are you seeing them tomorrow ? I will look into this first thing in the morning.
  4. Can I call you in the morning so we can discuss the…
  5. I’ll see you in the morning ! (A demain!)

Leave that with me (= je m’en occupe)

Une expression extrêmement souvent utilisée en conversation pour signifier à son interlocuteur que vous êtes bien décidé à vous occuper du prob et que vous allez le traiter personnellement. Se dit soit au tel, soit en face à face. Peut aussi s’écrire dans un email.

Mettre en suspens (un projet, sujet…)

Lorsque vous voulez signifier qu’un projet ou un sujet va être momentanément mis en pause ou éludé provisoirement, vous utiliserez le verbe to park :

  1. « We have to park the conversation here / park the project ».

De façon plus colorée, on peut aussi « put on the back burner » (British English; se réfère aux plaques de cuisson à l’arrière, là où l’on met les plats en attente, à feu doux…) If something is on the back burner, it is temporarily not being dealt with or considered, especially because it is not urgent or important:

  • “We’ve all had to put our plans on the back burner for a while”.

Dans la même veine, si on n’est pas prêt à faire avancer un sujet et qu’on souhaite donc le laisser en suspens, on dira : hang/hold fire (British English) : to delay making a decision / an action.

  • Ideally we would settle the matter now, but I think we should hang fire until the general situation becomes clearer”.
  • I’m going to hang fire  on ordering until Tuesday just to give us chance to think it through again.
  • I’ll hang fire on sending out an update until the morning.
  • Steve – can you hang fire before forwarding to CARNIVAL in case there are any changes, please.

Bear with me / with us (= pouvez-vous patienter SVP)

(spoken) used to ask someone politely to wait while you find out information, finish what you are doing etc 

Trés utilisé (comme “leave that with me“ ci-dessus essentillement parlé mais peut égalment s’écrire) pour demander à son interlocuteur de bien vouloir patienter un peu pendant que l’on cherche à résoudre le prob ou s’efforce de trouver l’info demandée.

  1. Please bear with us while they decide.
  2. (…) so please bear with me until the end of the day and I’ll confirm that we can go ahead as we discussed on Tuesday.
  3. Bear with me a minute, and I’ll check if Mr Garrard’s in.
  4. Regarding the credit situation, would you be able to bear with me until this afternoon/tomorrow morning.

That’s about it for today 😉👌

Keep it coming, man! it’s got me really fired up for the day…

(*) déchirer

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#2 – Drumroll please…(*)

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Séquence Didactique #2

Comment terminer son message en utilisant les formules couramment utilisées par les natives.

Rule of Thumb

Comme on l’a vu dans le post précèdent (Stay with me for the latest updates…) ouvrir et finir un mail avec la British Touch permet de connecter de façon plus crédible, surtout lorsque vous êtes en communication avec un native English speaker.

Pour conclure correctement un mail avant le Best Regards, là encore les formules sont assez concises et simples dans leur construction. Le principe étant de laisser une porte ouverte vers une étape à suivre ou un approfondissement des sujets évoqués. C’est souvent un peu « convenu », comme notre formule « je me tiens à votre disposition » ou « n’hésitez pas à me contacter » mais ce sont les mots valises qu’il faut connaître et savoir utiliser pour que votre message soit bien reçu, car ce sont les codes en usage qui déclenchent automatiquement chez le récepteur un sentiment de communauté.

Dans un prochain post, on abordera la question des formules de remerciements qui là aussi , font appel à des constructions spécifiques que seul un native peu formuler. C’est souvent simple après coup, comme un exo de math quand on a la réponse sous les yeux mais c’est beaucoup plus «a tough nut to crack» quand on est seul face à son ordi AZERTY. Voici d’ailleurs un “sneak peek” (un avant-goût)

“Hi both, I really appreciate your time this morning and thank you for being supportive on this project”

ou encore

“Thank you to Mark and the team at Great Vending for their time and hospitality on my visit today“

Teaching / Grooming

Pour revenir aux formules de fin à utiliser dans vos emails, voici un panel d’expressions concises à connaître et à utiliser sans modération (74 exemples contextualisés):

  1. Do call with any queries.
  2. If you have any queries or thoughts, please do not hesitate to let me know.
  3. Any queries, please do not hesitate to give me a call.
  4. I you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me.
  5. Also, please pass my thanks on to Hayley – from the Helpdesk – who is always very helpful when I ring up with a query.
  6. In case of any query, I shall be glad to assist. Hope to hear from you soon.
  7. Please let me know if you have any further queries.
  8. Let me know if you have any queries or spot anything that needs changing.
  9. If you have any queries please let me know.
  10. Your usual sales contact remains at your disposal to discuss any queries you may have.
  11. If you have any queries or spot any issues, please let me know.
  12. If you have any queries please contact this office, quoting the above reference.
  13. Please accept our sincere apologies that this has happened.  Should you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me.
  14. Do let me know if you have any questions or queries in the meantime. Thank you, Chris.
  15. I would still like to hear if you have any problems or questions.
  16. Let us know if there are any questions.
  17. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any additional questions you may have.
  18. Any other questions, please let me know.
  19. Let me know if you have any further questions.
  20. Any questions, please let me know.
  21. I will reach out to you if I have any further questions as I make my way through this process.
  22. …and wanted to know if you had any additional questions that I can answer for you.
  23. Please call with any questions.
  24. Please let me know of any questions or concerns.  Thanks for the help.
  25. Please let me know if you have any questions or if there is any way I can be of assistance.
  26. If you have question please email or call me on my cell listed below.
  27. Please let me know if you have any additional questions at this time.
  28. Should you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me on 07884 xxxxxx
  29. and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
  30. Please let me know if you have any further questions.
  31. If you have any questions in the meantime please don’t hesitate to reach out.
  32. Any questions please give me a shout (give a shout est souvent utilisé dans le sens: to say something to someone or contact them in some way in order to alert them to something = il n’y a donc aucune notion de “cri” ou de “crier”. C’est donc parfaitement correct de l’utiliser ainsi dans ce contexte).
  33. Any questions, please let me know – look forward to catching up (faire le point, se tenir au courant) later today.
  34. Feel free to contact me with any questions but would like feedback by close tomorrow
  35. Should you have any questions, please do let us know.
  36. Thanks and any questions, please don’t hesitate to let me know.
  37. Please call the LeasePlan Contracts Team and we will talk you through (to discuss all the details of something, often before making a decision = fournir toutes les explications) any questions you have.
  38. Hopefully this all makes sense however please let me know if you’ve any comments or questions.
  39. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
  40. If you have any questions at all, please let me know.
  41. Many thanks and please feel free and ask any questions.
  42. Happy to talk further. Thanks.
  43. Talk with you soon.
  44. Look forward to catching up.
  45. With thanks in advance
  46. That’s all the dirt for now. Stay in touch. Best Regards. (dirt – disgraceful gossip about the private lives of other people = ragots)
  47. I hope all makes sense and see you soon (precisions importante: make sense signifie “to have a clear meaning and be easy to understand”… SVP ne pas retranscrire en Frenglish littéral comme on l’entend trop souvent dans le jargon business “faire sens”. Voici quelques solutions correctes que je vous propose en échange: ça colle, c’est logique, ça se tient c’est clair etc…pas “faire sens”, non, non)
  48. Let us know if there are any questions.
  49. Please be so kind as to respond directly to him with the question posed.
  50. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any additional questions you may have.
  51. Any other questions, please let me know.
  52. If I have a question who do I direct them to?
  53. Let me know if you have any further questions.
  54. Any questions, please let me know.
  55. I will reach out to you if I have any further questions as I make my way through this process.
  56. …and wanted to know if you had any additional questions that I can answer for you.
  57. Please call with any questions.
  58. Please let me know of any questions or concerns.  Thanks for the help.
  59. Please let me know if you have any questions or if there is any way I can be of assistance.
  60. Please let me know if you have any additional questions at this time.
  61. Please let me know if you have any further questions.
  62. Please can you have a read through and give me your thoughts on the questions they pose. 
  63. I trust this is clear, and if you do have any further questions please let me know
  64. If you have any questions in the meantime please don’t hesitate to reach out.
  65. Also following on from Ben’s questions do you have any update on the expected date of the new software
  66. I have one more question…err…I’m just trying to think what it was…err…oh yeah: if you were like my age now (…)
  67. Any questions please give me a shout (voir point 32)
  68. Feel free to contact me with any questions but would like feedback by close of play tomorrow (by Close Of Play (by COP) & by Close Of Business (by COB) sont assez régulièrement utilisés dans le sens “avant la fin de la journée, soit aux alentours de 5:00pm latest)
  69. Thanks and any questions, please don’t hesitate to let me know.
  70. Any questions please message me.
  71. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
  72. If you have any questions at all, please let me know.
  73. Please let me know if you have any questions or need anything further in the meantime.
  74. Many thanks and please feel free and ask any questions.

that’s pretty much it…

Perks (tips)

Présentiel / Distanciel

Ces mots sont apparus subitement pendant de Covid et font maintenant partie du vocabulaire à connaître.

En UK, le présentiel se dit « in-person » et le distanciel « remote working » ou « remotely ». On peut également décliner le concept en: flexible working / hybrid working

Exemples :

  1. remote working will become compulsory for those who are able to.
  2. had already advised staff to continue working remotely whenever and wherever possible.
  3. between employees required to work in person and those who can still work remote.
  4. had already advised staff to continue working remotely whenever and wherever possible.
  5. maintaining relationships and managing teams remotely, switching between home working and in-person catch-ups.
  6. Many of us now work remotely and flexibly
  7. For anyone who might be remote, below is the webex information for tomorrow morning’s meeting.
  8. Today, we announced anyone who can do their work remotely can choose to do so through the end of the year,”
  9. Some bosses are hosting multiple check-in calls daily for their remote workers
  10. So remote working and home working are here to stay.
  11. firms continue to adopt flexible working practices
  12. employers expect increase in part-time, remote and flexible-working
  13. “Flexible working patterns” – including lighter duties, flexible breaks or remote working – will be considered for those who (…)
  14. Much has been written on the merits and pitfalls of hybrid work

S’agissant de « travail à domicile », il n’est en revanche pas souhaitable d’utiliser le terme « smart working » que l’on entend parfois chez nous, car cette expression n’a pas cours outre-manche. On parle tout simplement de « work(ing) from home » ou “WFH”

  1. said that they’d prefer to work from home as much as possible even after the pandemic calms,
  2. Microsoft reveals record profits amid work from home boom
  3. shifting to hybrid work marks a radical change for most organisations
  4. Three warning signs that your remote employees are starting to crack under the stress of working from home.
  5. Definitely like to mix it up (= WFH + office) flexibility and freedom to work from wherever I want

Passer la parole à qqn / laisser la suite à

Voilà une expression très utile dans les meetings… et souvent pas ou mal traduite lorsqu’on est le speaker, ce qui a tendance à gripper le discours…

Réponse: to hand over to someone = to stop speaking to or dealing with someone and let someone else do it.

Mais on peut aussi “hand over the floor to…” ou « leave the floor to”. L’usage de “floor” n’est approprié que lorsqu’on partage la scène. Sinon, utilisez « hand over to » c’est une valeur sûre…

  1. I’m now going to hand over to my colleague back in the studio.
  2. Floor’s all yours, John. Vous avez la parole, John
  3. I will now hand over the floor to Kathleen, who will talk to you about implementation
  4. That being said, I will now leave the floor to a member of the Reform Party
  5. I will now hand over the floor to the management for a brief outline on the results, post which we can go to the Q&A session. Over to you, sir.

Keep up the good work  and be very proud of what you have just accomplished today ! 👏👏👏

(*) Roulement de tambour !

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#1 – “I especially love the salutations in your emails. They make me smile without fail”… 🥰

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Séquence Didactique #1

Comment démarer un email (ou une conversation) dans un style British ? Dans un prochain post, on regardera en détail comment terminer un email ou se séparer après avoir passé un moment ensemble. Ces deux volets de la communication sont essentiels pour qui veut gagner en « British touch ».

Cette première « séquence didactique » (comme toutes les suivantes d’ailleurs), se structurera en 3 sections.

What do you need to know? 🌍 (Rule of thumb) :quelques principes à connaître pour mieux comprendre ce que sont les Britanniques.

Define and Explore 💼 (Teaching / grooming) : tout ce qui va vous permettre au fil des séquences de gagner en crédibilité et en subtilité dans votre communication.

Fun Facts 😁 🤔 (Perks / Mishmash): une section qui terminera la séquence didactique en mettant en lumière quelques « bonus » qui vous permettraient, si vous les appliquez, de « sonner » plus Anglais et moins Franglais. Et là, il y a de la marge de manœuvre …

Les mots et tournures idiomatiques typiquement English (British / American) à noter absolument seront surlignés afin d’en faciliter le repérage. Les explications ou définitions seront également surlignées.

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What do you need to know? 🌍 

Les Britanniques sont plutôt respectueux dans leur communication écrite et orale.

Par ailleurs, il faut bien savoir que “The two great British virtues are understatement (= the act or an instance of stating something in restrained terms, or as less than it is = minimiser, dire avec retenue) and grace under fire (= to remain calm under pressure)”. Ce sont donc en règle général, des interlocuteurs très agréables, modérés, qui respectent plutôt les règles de bienséance et de vie en société ou en « communities ». Cela transparaît dans leur mode de communication et d’interaction, il est donc important de maîtriser quelques accroches (« opening gambit »)

Ce qu’on appelle en Anglais les « salutations » (a greeting in words or actions, or the words used at the beginning of a mail or speech) ne sont donc pas à négliger. De même, les « pleasantries » (A polite social utterance; a civility. A good-humored or playful manner in conversation or social relations) contribuent à l’Art de la conversation et de l’approche inter-personnelle qui est un signe d’appartenance à ne pas ignorer non plus. On ne doit pas être handicapé par un manque d’expressions et de formules typiquement Britanniques si l’on veut créer un courant harmonieux et des « good vibe ».

Pour démarrer un email, vous trouverez systématiquement le même type de formules concises, quasiment incontournables. D’ailleurs, dans une prochaine « séquence didactique » je vous livrerai pêle-mêle un catalogue de tournures idiomatiques prêtes à l’emploi et qui vous permettront d’enrichir votre compétence en « opening gambit » (a starting remark in a conversation = entrée en matière, phrase d’ouverture, accroche)

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Define and Explore 💼

Voici donc pour commencer un panel d’expressions concises à connaître bien évidemment sur le bout des doigts :

  1. Hello Herve / Morning Herve / Evening Herve / Hi Herve etc…(vous remarquerez qu’il est d’usage de laisser tomber le « Good » dans Good Morning / Good Evening) 😉
  2. I trust all is well
  3. I hope this note finds you well /Trust this email finds you well / Hope this message finds you well (là aussi, vous noterez qu’on peut tout à fait laisser tomber le « I » avant le verbe. Autre subtilité, le verbe “find” dans ce contexte signifie: to succeed in reaching; arrive at. Donc il indique qu’on espère que cet email parviendra bien à son destinataire…)
  4. Trust you are well / I trust all is well
  5. I trust all is well and the weekend was a good one / I trust you had a good break ? Please find attached (…)
  6. Trust everything is well.
  7. Morning Herve, all fine thanks. How about you?
  8. Morning Hervé, all good here, I trust you are too ?
  9. Hello Herve, I trust you are keeping well and staying safe!! (trés courant durant la pandémie COVID…)
  10. Hope all good with you..I have just returned from holiday and catching up on (…) (je rattrappe mon retard / je me mets au courant des dernière news)
  11. All good here, thanks
  12. All good with me thank you, hope you are too ??
  13. I hope all is good with you and that you are ready for Christmas!
  14. I hope all is good with you in Spain and business is starting to return.
  15. Yes all is good thanks only back from holiday yesterday so still catching up! (je rattrappe mon retard / je me mets au courant des dernière news)
  16. Hello Herve, I trust all is well.
  17. I hope all is well. I wanted to send you an update and let you know that
  18. Good to hear from you, I hope all is well…
  19. I hope all is well in your new position. How are things going?

Vous l’aurez compris, il vaut donc toujours mieux « ouvrir le bal » par quelques mots simples qui permettent de connecter immédiatement avec son interlocuteur. Eviter les formules pompeuses, un peu trop solennelles, ronflantes. Les Britanniques comme les Américains raffolent des mots courts, des sigles, des phrases et mots tronqués. Le formalisme peut et doit être réduit autant que possible dans les échanges business (oraux et écrits). Par exemple, on dira aisément « Jan » à la place de January, « Feb » à la place de February (ça ne concerne que ces 2 mois), quand vous voulez signaler que vous avez mis quelqu’un en copie ou que vous demandez à être mis en copie, vous utiliserez sans risque la formule « cc’d » ou « please cc me »…

Pour se saluer en se croisant physiquement on se limitera aisément à:

  1. you OK ? 
  2. Are you OK ?
  3. Hey, Dimitri, what’s up ? Salut Dimitri, ça va ?
  4. Hey. It’s been a while. You good ? ça fait un baille. Ça va toi ?
  5. How’s it going ? Comment ça va de ton côté ?
  6. How are you ? Comment ça va ?
  7. How’s life (treating you)?
  8. How is everything in your life?
  9. How’re things going? (a standard greeting inquiry)
  10. How’s by you?

Vous pouvez naturellement oublier le légendaire « How do you do ? » qui vous ferait immédiatement passer pour ce que vous êtes, c’est à dire un Boomer bien Frenchie… non, restez à l’écart de tout ce qu’on vous a appris à l’école ou à la fac. Ca ne rentre dans aucune case quand vous êtes en UK…

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Fun Facts 😁 🤔

What time is it ? What time is your train ?

Pour 5h30 par exemple, les Anglais ne disent pas « Five and a half ». Ils diront « Half Five » ou « Five Thirty ». En utilisant l’une de ces formules, vous vous placez immédiatement du côté des initiés alors que le « Five and a half » vous renverrait à votre condition de « absolute beginner ».

« To » et « That »

Deux petits mots qui peuvent immédiatement vous « flagger » si vous ne savez pas comment les prononcer autrement que « tou » et « thAt ».

To : Comme pour sans doute 99% de nos compatriotes, « to » se prononce « tou » …boohoo !! it’s a definite no-no ! Ceci n’est vrai que lorsqu’il est situé en fin de phrase, par exemple « where are you going to ? ». Dans ce cas là, aucune hésitation, c’est « tou’.

En revanche s’il est utilisé comme marque de l’infinif après « want » « like » « think » etc… il DOIT se prononcer « teu » ‘(son « eu » légèrement étouffé)

1. I’m ready “teu” support you anywhere anytime.

2. I’d like “teu”…eat fruits and veg tonight.

3. He wants me “teu” come along.

Evidemment, les classiques « wanna » et « gonna » (want to / go to) sont également très usités donc très recommandés (uniquement à l’oral bien sûr…)

That : même constat. L’apprentissage Français nous a inculqué que « thAt » se prononçait toujours de façon appuyée avec un A dominant couplé au systématique oubli ou non-usage de la langue entre les dents (oops !). Sauf à se situer en fin de phrase ou à être utilisé comme démonstratif, « that » doit se prononcer « theut » (là aussi, le son « eu » doit être légèrement étouffé).

1. I hope « theut » I haven’t left it too late.

2. I do think “theut” the absolute priority that the British people have right now, is to (…).

3. So my question is do you think “theut” the 2 to 2.5 hours is a good goal?

Mais on proncera “thAt”(“a” appuyé) dans:

1. I don’t think thAt’s a lot to ask in the 21st century.

2. I think thAt sort of a language is just too inflammatory.

3. If you want to be like thAt with us, then you can be issued with a fixed penalty notice.

4. After thAt, I would drive around visiting prospective customers.

That’ pretty much it for today. Just drop me a message if you would like to find out more 🏆💥

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SOMMAIRE – Accès direct aux Séquences Didactiques https://soundssooenglish.uk/table-des-matieres/

clik here 😎 > Your emails smash it (*) every time, I love reading them!

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Ce blog est uniquement destiné à ceux qui sont fatigués de parler/écrire « Franglais » alors qu’ils voudraient parler/écrire Anglais.

Mais vous ne savez pas comment switcher. Vous ne savez pas où trouver toutes ces expressions et tous ces mots que seuls les « natives » savent construire et utiliser à bon escient et que vous n’apprendrez en tout cas ni à Lourdes, ni à St Tropez, ni même à l’école…

Voyons les choses en face : c’est tout simplement impossible pour qui ne vit pas 24/24 en terre anglophone…

Ce blog c’est aussi une ambition pédagogique personnelle, je l’avoue en toute modestie, celle de contribuer à la diffusion des bonnes pratiques dans la langue de Shakespeare des années 2020…

C’est dans mes cordes !

Car au cours de mes 8 années d’expatriation professionnelle aux USA et en UK, j’ai eu l’idée de répertorier systématiquement toutes les expressions écrites et parlées auxquelles j’ai été confronté quotidiennement. J’ai ainsi accumulé un stock de plusieurs milliers de tournures typiquement British que je vais mettre à disposition de tous au travers d’une série de « séquences didactiques » tout au long de ce blog… Imaginez les maux de tête que vous allez vous éviter en disposant en un seul endroit de toutes les informations nécessaires !

Règle intangible: je ne publierai que des tournures idiomatiques contenant du vocabulaire contextualisé uniquement par des « native English speakers » … aucune exception a ce principe pédagogique. Tout ce que je vous proposerai ne proviendra que des « natives » (emails / BBC / Tweets / LinkedIn…). J’ai aussi fait le choix de répertorier les mêmes tournures idiomatiques plusieurs fois dans des contextes variés garantissant une plus grande fiabilité par leurs diversités et leur caractère parfaitement « linguistique ». Tout sans aucune exception est donc parfaitement réutilisable sans risques et sans hésitations !

Je développerai des thématiques chaque fois que cela sera possible ou souhaitable afin d’éviter les listes de vocabulaires improductives et le format « dictionnaire » que vous pouvez trouver facilement sur internet (j’ai cependant quelques excellents dictionnaires gratuits online que je communiquerai…). Simple: no faff, no fluff, pure Gold

Des possibilités ? Beaucoup.

De la difficulté ? Aucune !

Alors, osez libérer votre curiosité ! 🏆

And there you have it! (spoken) «et voilà!» / «le tour est joué!» 💥

(*) (Smash it: to be successful)

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SOMMAIRE – Accès direct aux Séquences Didactiques https://soundssooenglish.uk/table-des-matieres/