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| German to English translations [PRO] | | German term or phrase: Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren (in Briefen in den USA) | Ich habe diese Frage zuletzt schon einmal gestellt und mich dann nach übereinstimmender
Antwort für die Anrede "Dear Sir or Madam" entschieden. Bald darauf erhielt ich von einem
sehr hilfsbereiten Kollegen aus den USA folgende Antwort:
In Briefen an Amerikaner ist es besser, das Wort 'Madam' nicht zu gebrauchen, da es hier
bei uns der Titel einer Puffinhaberin ist. Besser dann ueberhaupt keine Anrede oder die schlichte
Anrede 'Dear Sirs:'! so nebenbei
Ich bitte daher erneut um Stellungnahme der geschätzten Kolleginnen und Kollegen.
Vielen Dank! |
| Carsten WeberKudoZ activityQuestions: 20 (none open) ( 1 without valid answers) Answers: 21
| Local time: 09:28
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| | Dear Madam or Sir | Explanation:
I watched the exchange about your first question with great interest because I have been wondering about this problem since the old-fashioned, somewhat macho, "Dear Sirs" came into disrepute 20 years ago or so.
Here are all the other two ProZ exchanges on this subject for those who missed them:
http://www.proz.com/v3/?sp=h&id=42307&keyword=Sehr geehrte D...
http://www.proz.com/v3/?sp=h&id=82512&keyword=Sehr geehrte D...
Personally, I now use "Dear Madam or Sir" as a sort of least of 27 evils.
This is just my own opinion, but I do not think the word "Madam" makes everyone think of a brothel. There are two reasons for this:
1. The lady in charge of a brothel is "a/the madam" with an article and not normally capitalized.
2. "Madam" has been the female equivalent of "Sir" for hundreds of years and is used all over the English-speaking world as a polite form of address for a female. The waiter in a good US restaurant still says, "This way please, Madam." just like he says, "This way please, Sir."
There might, just might, be one more possibility for use when we do not know a name, when we do not know how many people are involved and when we do not know whether women or men or both are involved:
"Gentlemen" has been an accepted US alternative to "Dear Sirs" for some time now, so it might also now be possible to use the term "Ladies and Gentlemen" for the salutation of a letter as well as the conventional use at the beginning of a speech. I admit though that I have never seen this used in a letter.
I am looking forward to reading the other suggestions.
HTH
Dan
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| Selected response from:
Dan McCrosky
Local time: 09:28
| Grading comment Thank you so much for your comprehensive answer. I feel now confirmed to keep using "Dear Sir or Madam".
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer |
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| Discussion entries: 0 |
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Automatic update in 00:
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14 mins peer agreement (net): +1 Madam
Explanation:
Natürlich darf man in Amerika Dear Sir or Madam schreiben. Ich bin in amerikanischen Restaurants auch als "Madam" angeredet worden, und ich glaube nicht, dass man mich mit einer Puffmutter verwechselt hat.
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| | Login to enter a peer comment (or grade) |
18 mins Dear Sirs, / Ladies and Gentlemen,
Explanation:
In letters directed to a defined address "Dear Sirs," will normally be used.
In speeches, or in publicity letters directed to a large number of addresses, "Ladies and Gentlemen" will be a more common useage (in my opinion).
HTH
| | | | Login to enter a peer comment (or grade) |
38 mins peer agreement (net): +1 Dear Madam or Sir
Explanation:
I watched the exchange about your first question with great interest because I have been wondering about this problem since the old-fashioned, somewhat macho, "Dear Sirs" came into disrepute 20 years ago or so.
Here are all the other two ProZ exchanges on this subject for those who missed them:
http://www.proz.com/v3/?sp=h&id=42307&keyword=Sehr geehrte D...
http://www.proz.com/v3/?sp=h&id=82512&keyword=Sehr geehrte D...
Personally, I now use "Dear Madam or Sir" as a sort of least of 27 evils.
This is just my own opinion, but I do not think the word "Madam" makes everyone think of a brothel. There are two reasons for this:
1. The lady in charge of a brothel is "a/the madam" with an article and not normally capitalized.
2. "Madam" has been the female equivalent of "Sir" for hundreds of years and is used all over the English-speaking world as a polite form of address for a female. The waiter in a good US restaurant still says, "This way please, Madam." just like he says, "This way please, Sir."
There might, just might, be one more possibility for use when we do not know a name, when we do not know how many people are involved and when we do not know whether women or men or both are involved:
"Gentlemen" has been an accepted US alternative to "Dear Sirs" for some time now, so it might also now be possible to use the term "Ladies and Gentlemen" for the salutation of a letter as well as the conventional use at the beginning of a speech. I admit though that I have never seen this used in a letter.
I am looking forward to reading the other suggestions.
HTH
Dan
| | | Grading comment | Thank you so much for your comprehensive answer. I feel now confirmed to keep using "Dear Sir or Madam". |
|
| | Login to enter a peer comment (or grade) |
2 hrs Dear Customer (etc.)
Explanation:
I haven't see the prior exchange but Dan is right and I agree that Dear Madam (especially in combination with with Dear Sir) would not be objectionable. After all, "Yes, Ma'am" or "Thank you, Ma'am" is still in fairly common use in courteous everyday exchanges.
(AltaVista [English:] The number of documents that contain your search terms: yes ma m 284 • yes ma am 12448 • yes sir 145724
But in US marketese at least, an often preferred alternative is to follow Dear... by a noun that appropriately groups the addressee, such as Dear Customer, Dear Shareholder etc. -- made all the easier since in English such forms of address are gender-neutral.
Tom
US marketing experience
|  Tom Funke
Local time: 03:28
Native speaker of:  English
PRO pts in pair: 2419
|
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5 hrs Dear Sir or Madam
Explanation:
Having lived in the US for almost 30 years, I feel that the correct way to address "Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren" is still "Dear Sir or Madam". The children are taught very early on to show respect to the elder and must use(especially in the South)Sir or Madam when responding to adults. Such as: "Yes, Ma'm or Yes, Sir". This is the proper etikette. The same applies to letters. Today, many large corporations are headed by women, and many women hold important positions in companies, therefore, to address a letter by just saying "Dear Sir", "Sirs", or "Gentlemen" is inappropriate in today's world. Unless you know for sure that you are dealing with a male only, please use the correct form of "Dear Sir or Madam".
And for speeches, definitely:
"Ladies and Gentlemen", if women are in the audience.
Beate
| bhpirch
Local time: 02:28
Native speaker of: German
PRO pts in pair: 73
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