Hacker News Reader

Comment by CharlesW | Hacker News Reader

Many native English speakers I've worked with consider it rude and/or condescending, to the point that on a couple of occasions I've let Indian English speakers know this. My thinking is that if I spoke another language and was using an English phrase that translated poorly, I'd want to know.

View on HN

As a native English speaker I've let my native English speaking management know about all sorts of rude, condescending, infantilizing corporate doublespeak and yet it gets worse every year. "Do the needful" pales in comparison to the codswallop in the layoff notices that get posted here regularly.

Yeah, to me it's basically just a vernacular peculiar to Indians that would be almost exactly equivalent to "take care of that".

The one that blew me away in my first corporate job was referring to people as "resources". And I don't mean as in the human resources department which I begrudgingly accept. I mean saying things, like "let me get a resource" to mean get a person. I get that we're viewed as replaceable cogs in the machine, but there's no need to rub our faces in that.

I actually did have some success in persuading people that it was dehumanizing.

See, this is the correct take. Using "resources" for people shook me the first time I heard it in a high-level planning meeting. I'm being serious here that it kept me up all night.

"Headcount" strikes me the same way.

“Resource” is an artifact of our services companies (outsourcing) and their project management training.

Extremely annoying and frustrating as they would yank people off projects and replace them with junior “resources,” and expect no impact on the project.

Oh, the company recognizes your outstanding effort and is offering you a 1% raise. Corporate speak is meant to gaslight people.

2% for me. I met expectations and was accordingly paid for my performance as one of the company's most valuable assets.

I don't agree with your thinking fwiw but appreciate the intention. 1/4 of a billion people in India speak English, they are just as much "native English speakers" as English speakers in the western world. You could also equally inform western English speakers as to the intention behind the phrase.

I don't necessarily stake a position in your disagreement, but do think there is a difference between majority usage and origin.

Then again: "English do[es]n't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." - James D. Nicoll

Are not many or most Indians also native English speakers?

No, they are not.

South Indians are a small minority in India.

And native English speakers in India also use the phrase.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com