More Bad English, Please (2010)

This is a good point to make! I don&#x27;t know how accurate the article is about the emotion or reason behind this phrase being written.<p>I&#x27;ve always taken it as a social shorthand for communicating that the writing may not be interpreted 100% in the way it was intended so more thought may be required before responding. Also, I take it to mean that the writer is aware their writing is not perfect. Some may perceive that as embarrassment but it could also come from a place of humility, respect to the language, and to establish a baseline of understanding with the reader.<p>Just because someone is in the minority doesn&#x27;t mean they feel embarrassed about it.

Hey (Good) English is hard. Be thankful most of the planet feels compelled to learn it and you natives don&#x27;t even have to learn a single foreign language. I wish I would be in that position, but I&#x27;m not. So excuse my french. Now if you&#x27;ll excuse me, I need to go back to my English lessons which consist in watching american TV-shows ...

Sometimes when I stumble reading poor English I wish there was a way I could gently, privately, suggest corrections without making the author feel criticized.<p>I never feel it is appropriate to do so in a comment or reply because I am not critiquing their ideas. Usually the meaning is perfectly clear, but to a native speaker&#x27;s ear it can just feel awkward.<p>Of course, we all make typos or fail to proofread adequately so we could all benefit from a kindly edit now and then.

I could not disagree more stridently. If the goal is clear, concise communication, the ask-er should be reasonably fluent in the language they presume to get a response in. If I had to start asking questions in a primarily-Japanese tech forum, you can bet I would make sure my written Japanese was pretty darned good before I start bothering native speakers whom I&#x27;m hoping will help me for free. Yes, that process might take years, but that&#x27;s what I&#x27;m signing up for if I choose a primarily-Japanese supported widget. If I&#x27;m imposing on someone, the expectation is that I am going to bend over backwards to not waste their time, and that means communicating clearly.<p>See: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;catb.org&#x2F;~esr&#x2F;faqs&#x2F;smart-questions.html#writewell" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;catb.org&#x2F;~esr&#x2F;faqs&#x2F;smart-questions.html#writewell</a>