6 ms·

Would you prefer that the guy puts on a fake smile and pretends to not be an ass? I wouldn't.

jacquesm 14y ago
False Dichotomy. Hello dear French Person, We have taken your offer under consideration and have decided we are not interested. Experience has taught us that we can produce cheaper in Asia which is why we are not going to set up a manufacturing base in Europe. best regards, x No fake smile, not an ass.
- pcrh 14y ago
  You forgot: Je vous prie de bien vouloir agréer, Monsieur, l'expression de mes honnêtes et respectueuses salutations.
  - jacquesm 14y ago
    There is a note of subtlety there that I find hard to translate but my French interpreter detects a very subtle note of sarcasm in that carefully worded salutation. When you've been insulted you can insult back by throwing rotten fish or you can insult back by being very explicitly correct and I sense this is some slight variation of that. Maybe someone who is more experienced in French can confirm or deny that.
    - pcrh 14y ago
      Actually, the sarcasm would only be perceived by an Anglophone. That is a fairly standard salutation in French, further, it is one that indicating that the recipient is of higher status than the sender. French salutations are notoriously flowery and with complex rules (which I have probably gotten wrong here, being primarily an Anglophone myself).
      - jacquesm 14y ago
        I believe you are wrong about that, but then I did ask someone who was a French native to respond ;)
        pcrh 14y ago
        Per guizzy, I stand corrected! I shouldn't be trying to write formal French.
    - guizzy 14y ago
      It's a very formal salutation. Its inclusion in an otherwise informal message is very sarcastic, and most native french speakers would take it as such. That's actually what the minister did in his reply.
      - jacquesm 14y ago
        I figured as much.
- brousky 14y ago
  I think he felt it necessary to explain in greater details why buying this distressed factory made no sense. If you can read the comments (http://commentaires.lesechos.fr/commentaires.php?id=0202577006715 http://commentaires.lesechos.fr/commentaires.php?id=02025770...) the vast majority said they're very happy to see someone bluntly tell the government what the majority of French people understood a long time ago but can't say publicly because it's taboo to talk about business, productivity and how the big unions are costing more jobs then they're saving.

False Dichotomy. Hello dear French Person, We have taken your offer under consideration and have decided we are not interested. Experience has taught us that we can produce cheaper in Asia which is why we are not going to set up a manufacturing base in Europe. best regards, x No fake smile, not an ass.

pcrh 14y ago
You forgot: Je vous prie de bien vouloir agréer, Monsieur, l'expression de mes honnêtes et respectueuses salutations.
- jacquesm 14y ago
  There is a note of subtlety there that I find hard to translate but my French interpreter detects a very subtle note of sarcasm in that carefully worded salutation. When you've been insulted you can insult back by throwing rotten fish or you can insult back by being very explicitly correct and I sense this is some slight variation of that. Maybe someone who is more experienced in French can confirm or deny that.
  - pcrh 14y ago
    Actually, the sarcasm would only be perceived by an Anglophone. That is a fairly standard salutation in French, further, it is one that indicating that the recipient is of higher status than the sender. French salutations are notoriously flowery and with complex rules (which I have probably gotten wrong here, being primarily an Anglophone myself).
    - jacquesm 14y ago
      I believe you are wrong about that, but then I did ask someone who was a French native to respond ;)
      - pcrh 14y ago
        Per guizzy, I stand corrected! I shouldn't be trying to write formal French.
  - guizzy 14y ago
    It's a very formal salutation. Its inclusion in an otherwise informal message is very sarcastic, and most native french speakers would take it as such. That's actually what the minister did in his reply.
    - jacquesm 14y ago
      I figured as much.
brousky 14y ago
I think he felt it necessary to explain in greater details why buying this distressed factory made no sense. If you can read the comments (http://commentaires.lesechos.fr/commentaires.php?id=0202577006715 http://commentaires.lesechos.fr/commentaires.php?id=02025770...) the vast majority said they're very happy to see someone bluntly tell the government what the majority of French people understood a long time ago but can't say publicly because it's taboo to talk about business, productivity and how the big unions are costing more jobs then they're saving.