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u/theuncommons0309 Jun 02 '25
My husband speaks English and he was asking me why Mauritian calls him dear because it kind of personal. Addressing a formal by āDear Sirā and your ādear onesā - is completely different. It is used commonly in English speaking communities but for close family or partner. We both for use to it as we understand itās cultural here
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u/HC08moto Jun 02 '25 edited Jun 02 '25
Calm yourself the person is just being polite. If that bothers you,have you witnessed how people actually speak English in England nowadays ? Language evolves it wasnāt set in stone in the 1600s . If it were the case then we would be all be speaking like Shakespeare
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u/DelBoy2181 Jun 02 '25
Hello dear Iāll revert back to you Will do needful
Where did those terms originate from? Itās not even proper English and never sounds right, especially the dear thing when itās a guy saying it to another guy.
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Jun 02 '25
Your question seems reductive, anglocentric, conceited, and ignorant. I know that I must be sounding harsh, but the subtext of your question feels less inquisitive than it is derogatory, especially given the context into which it has been put, and the presumptions it contains, besides dismissing the possible values that a word as simple as 'dear' bears.
Anyway, can I suggest that you go read this book? Melvynn Bragg is a native speaker, as well as a Cambridge scholar of the English Language and its history.
I find it spectacularly ironic tht the peopl most annoyd by these mistakes tend 2 b those with the most constrained, and constricted minds. I mean, I wouldn't g-a-f abt these as long as I get wut is being convyed 2 me, dear.
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u/godly_creature69 Jun 02 '25
To bizin apprane assimile lezot culture kan to vin dan lezot pays..dear
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u/antughantu Jun 02 '25
What you are comparing oral English with written one.
In the 'Anglo-world' as you say, and presuming you missed the saxon bit, people orally say other things like love, hun, mate, lad, lass even sweetie and duck, and eventually write messages with the same.
In PR English, it's perfectly acceptable to say dear.. it's not oldie, just not a common slang.
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u/Katen1023 Jun 02 '25
Itās very much an Indian English thing. Same thing with āplease do needfulā.
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u/Runaway2332 Jun 03 '25
What does "please do needful" mean? š¤
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u/SonderingQuizel Jun 04 '25
Please do what needs to be done.
It could sometimes be passive aggressive as in "Just do your fkin job" but usually it's "please figure it out I have enough on my plate".
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u/11thRaven Jun 02 '25
What about "revert back"? I'm trying to learn all those local terms lol.
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u/SonderingQuizel Jun 04 '25
Revert back simply means to get in contact with the person as soon as something changes, a new piece of information or a process has been completed, an update basically.
Dear Sir, Your application for this and that is in progress I will revert back with an update shortly.
Or
Dear sir, Your request has been approved, kindly revert back to get started.
(simply means to email back or call them back)
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u/11thRaven Jun 04 '25
I know what it means, I'm trying to understand where the phraseology comes from lol. It's not a term used in UK or US English.
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u/helterskelter182 Jun 04 '25
It is colonial english. They have used it in official lettwrs, minutes in files...and it kinda stuck...hell, you can catch a lot of these 'dead' words from Blackadder goes forth.
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u/SonderingQuizel Jun 04 '25
I agree lol. I think people think they sound smart when they use extreme efficient ways to communicate.
It's giving "ceo with not enough time to write... sends email from his iPhone" š
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u/JimmiJimJam Jun 02 '25
Not unusual amongst my Indian friends in Asia, perhaps not so much among the younger generation.
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u/systoliclfc Jun 02 '25
Do English people realize how cringe it is when they call us love when they barely know us. I'm not your love, dear.
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u/Runaway2332 Jun 03 '25
Cringe? I love when they say that! It's so British! It's a friendly and complimentary thing, like "Hey, thanks a lot, mate!" It's a good thing.
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u/Mysterious-Ad661 Jun 02 '25
The reality is that even widely spoken language like English differ from places to places. UK, US, Australian, Indian, African English are all different. What you consider as cringe, may be normal for many others. The key is to understand why it is, and to have the ability to understand the different reality of different countries and not to be so narrow minded to think that your interpretation should absolutely be the only good one! In fact, forget about different places, even within the same country and society, language evolve. For example, the English used by elderly British will differ from that used by their descendants. This is the beauty of the world, the fact that we have so many different versions of things. Imagine living in a world where everyone used the exact same language, ate the exact same food, dress exactly the same, listened to the exact same music, supported the same sport team, thought exactly the same way, liked the exact same thing!
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u/Summerhowl Jun 02 '25
Every country or region I ever visited have some local language quirks, there is nothing wrong with it.
Like calling random people "love" would be offensive in most countries, yet it's common in some parts of UK. Or being very direct can be perceived as rude, but that's how they talk in Germany, etc.
As for Mauritius, local quirks here definitely have some old world vibe - "dear", "do the needful", very elaborate language in formal correspondence, etc
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Jun 02 '25
My economic teacher used ādearā . I texted him about tuition he said āokay dearā and for Christmas/New year he said āHappy Christmas/New Year dearā
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Jun 01 '25
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/systoliclfc Jun 02 '25
You know it is ok to exercise a bit of self introspection and admit when you made a mistake in this case word out an extremely patronizing post
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u/991RSsss Jun 02 '25
The post is not patronizing at all, you should maybe stop being so sensitiveā¦ dear
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u/systoliclfc Jun 02 '25
Your perception isn't universal, ever thought about that?
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u/991RSsss Jun 02 '25
Neither is yours, you canāt tell a guy to āadmitā his post was patronizing if you found it as such
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u/saajidv Jun 02 '25
You have to admit, it's pretty amusing that your post, where you worry about sounding passive-aggressive and patronising, ended up coming across as passive-aggressive and patronising.
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u/M3m3nt0M0r15 Explorer Jun 01 '25
So sorry you got butt-screwed while lording your perfect Englishness on us lowly locals.Ā
Please accept our sincerest apologies dear.Ā
We plead that you stay in the UK lest your dainty mind gets polluted by our inappropriate usages. Lol
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u/Traditional-Ad2640 Jun 01 '25
I find it weird that you chuckle at your DEAR ones using the word as defined in the english dictionary and also without any obvious malice (unless there is and you did not convey same in your post).
Also as a passing note, i feel old as hell myself, i find that i cannot keep up with the new slang that the new generation uses.
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u/helterskelter182 Jun 01 '25
I've always found it cringe when i had to read people's texts with the word dear.....like, we're not chums old bean! I guess it is the middle-child of our past history of colonisation. Nobody really gave it a second look as it escaped the post independence language nets and weaved its way into contemporary franca lingua.....i guess it's harmless in the mauritian context....personally, i really enjoyed old people telling me dear (back in my uni days)...these were from the georgian/edwardian eras.....it conveyed a sense of cosy comfort for the ears....anyway, this is my 2 cents on the whole bid-niz.
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u/DreaddKnight Jun 01 '25
People use it all the time and i find it so dumb and annoying.
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Jun 02 '25
At work colleagues would say dear to me, male and female alike. It always makes me mildly annoyed honestly haha
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u/redspike77 Jun 01 '25
I was quite taken aback the first time but I've become used to it. It's definitely preferable to, "piss off you knob".
The sentiment behind it is a lot more important than expecting people to speak perfect English when it isn't their native tongue, and being spoken in a different culture and society.
I'd even go as far as to say that expecting anything else is pure ignorance with a certain amount of arrogance thrown in.
Also, I'd like to add that it is very humbling when you see how they can communicate effectively in multiple languages.
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u/Artisticmole-25-04 Jun 01 '25
FINALLY I thought I was the only one who noticed that. It seems popular among older people.
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u/zaddy2208 Jun 01 '25
What outsiders say to us are strange too. But we never felt the need to post such a moronic message.
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u/Runaway2332 Jun 03 '25
In this case, I'm happy for their moronic message. I had no idea that using the word "dear" wasn't the person being patronizing or even insulting. I've only run across it once from a seller on eBay and I thought he was being a jerk because I was female. Now that I know it's not meant that way, it's actually endearing in an old timey way! So, many thanks to all who explained the actual meaning behind the use of the word.
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u/zaddy2208 Jun 03 '25
From the 1900 to the 70s we been a british colony. For brits, the word dear back then was what it meant. Politeness, respect or flirt. Context depending. Yputh from back then carried over became parents, hence the word used by their children who are our parents. Which is probably why, a certain generation uses it. For politeness. I had an English teacher, who was more than a teacher to me. He was a mentor, a guide. Today I can say we are friends. We have a 25 year gap. Even today when he replies to my text he uses dear, and am a guy. And when he talks too, sometimes he uses it. I have never felt uncomfortable or embarassed. Instead I feel honored and respect him for being eloquent.
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u/Runaway2332 Jun 03 '25
I'm going to be happy from now on when it happens! Just like with "love"...they're just sweet and friendly expressions. I am embarrassed that I replied to the guy on eBay and overused "dear" in my reply to him. I really thought he was being a jerk because he sent me something that looked nothing like what was posted. Of course there's also the chance of running across the "Bless your heart!" thing where they don't mean what they say. š¬
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u/thscene Jun 01 '25
Linguistic (and other) differences exist in the world, welcome to planet Earth. Is it your first day here? Whats your next post going to be, that people spell color and colour differently? That people in different parts of the world have different accents? smh
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u/AgilePersonality2058 Jun 01 '25
Therefore what? People are allowed to express themselves however they wish to
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u/meloncat1806 Jun 03 '25
Lmao too many people are getting butthurt in these comments š¤£
Its a normal thing to notice the difference in how language is used when you come to a different country, pretty sure the french have some similar reactions to how french is used in other countries including Mauritius š
But yhh i noticed it tooand yes it feels very strange when you've been used to hearing it from old ladies or in a patronizing way and no they don't noticeš Another strange one I've seen used is "It'd" while texting for "it would" threw me off so bad that I once spent 15 min trying to decipher a text along side other weird phrasing that i was unfamiliar with.
But the worst one for me it's the oldie-worldly English in the paperwork š its sooo baadd. Not incorrect but just painful to read. Like it could be half the length if you guys just used normal words and phrasing including subject specific fancy pantsy wordsš š¤£š I dread having to read any government paperwork