Understanding Difficult Words and Phrases

The provided text highlights several phrases and concepts that can be challenging for non-native English speakers or anyone looking to improve their business communication. Let's break them down.

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Key Terms and Their Meanings

• Non-NE writers: This refers to non-native English writers. It's a shorthand way of saying people who speak a language other than English as their first language. The text explains that many of the mistakes discussed are common among writers who are translating directly from their native tongue.

• Reflexive form: This is a grammatical term referring to a pronoun that ends in "-self" or "-selves," such as myself, yourself, herself, or ourselves. The author points out that while some languages use these reflexives to describe a state of mind or feeling ("we feel ourselves to be happy"), English generally restricts them to a physical action that someone does to themselves. For example, "I hurt myself" or "They introduced themselves."

• Inference: An inference is a conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning. In this context, the grammatical mistakes lead the reader to infer, or assume, that the company is unhelpful and difficult to deal with. The mistakes create a negative impression beyond just the grammar itself.

• Over and above: This is an idiom that means in addition to or more than. The author is saying that the writer of the example sentence focused on the direct translation of the words, which was more important to them than the central business purpose of the communication.

• Get the message back on track: This phrase means to correct the focus or purpose of a communication. The original sentence was off-track because it sounded unhelpful and self-serving. By rewriting it, the message is refocused on helping the customer, which is the correct business purpose.

• 'Red pen' approach: This is a figurative phrase that describes a harsh and critical way of correcting someone's mistakes. The image is of a teacher or manager using a red pen to mark errors on a document. The author warns against this approach in a workplace setting because it is unsupportive and can demotivate employees.

• Line managers: A line manager is a person directly responsible for managing other employees and their work. They are a manager who is part of the operational hierarchy of a company.

• 'Bury your head in the sand': This is a very common English idiom that means to ignore an obvious problem or avoid dealing with a difficult situation. The phrase comes from the false belief that ostriches bury their heads in the sand to avoid danger. The author uses this to stress that business problems, like grammatical mistakes, won't go away just because you pretend they don't exist.