In another post, I asked for help coming up with a fictional name to address (in a comical way, I thought) a potential group of people who may question a change I am making at work. This is copied from the linked thread:
To my great surprise, a Doper found it offensive.
It had not even occurred to me that this might offend. My intent was to be (arguably) humorous, not to offend (and honestly, nobody will really care much about the change). Anyway, if many feel similarly to Oak, I will reconsider my wording. I’m willing to be wrong about this, but I am interested in getting more opinions.
Not offensive to me. However, I am not surprised that there is someone out there who would be offended. There’s always one person like that in any big group.
Do you work for the kind of place where you could get in big trouble over someone taking offense to something minor? If so, I’d play it safe and try to avoid showing any humor or personality. However, if you work in a more easygoing kind of place, I think most people will understand your intent and won’t care.
Hmm… I was thinking it is not offensive, because I was imagining it without any name. After reading MsWhatsit’s reply with her suggested name, I don’t know anymore.
“Welcome to the 21st century! (followed by a save-the-trees/efficiency explanation of the many advantages of this sort of distribution).”: Not offensive.
“Welcome to the 21st century, Jethro! (followed by a save-the-trees/efficiency explanation of the many advantages of this sort of distribution).”: Denigrating and somewhat offensive, perhaps. It has a completely different feel to me.
ETA: after looking through the other thread, any name you put in there would be as bad.
Both glib and insulting on the surface. It’ll be amusing to about 20% of its recipients, another 75% will either wonder WTF or roll their eyes, and 5% will be pissy about it. Count me in the 75%.
Unless it was a newsletter that I really got something beneficial out of, it’d get designated for my trash file without a second glance in the future. I get enough in-house junk in my mail as is.
It may seem unnecessary, but I think if the “Q” was not in all caps, and you didn’t call anyone a name (no matter how innocent said name seems) than it would be fine. As is, I can see why some may be slightly offended.
I’m not sure that wondering why a switch was made (lost your lease at the office due to lack of funds; new management taking over; actual eco reasons) means the person is still living in the last century. And, if going electronic puts you in the 21st century…uhhhh… where ya been for the last 12 years? It’s possible you are lagging behind your readers, not the other way around, and they may not like the implication that they are the slow ones. Better to just say something like “Your paper has joined the 21st century!” or some such.
That said, if someone is actually bothered by this to any degree for more than 2 seconds, they need to get some perspective. I agree, insulting on the surface but a great change to make.
Just omit the name. That is where the potential offensiveness comes from, and there is absolutely no need to have it there. As ZenBeam says, any other name would be pretty much as bad, but without a name it is harmless, it is no longer in-your-face personal.
I clicked “offensive” but was on the fence with “other.” I don’t think it rises to actual offense, but it does feel like a sneer. Good-natured hassle like this among friends is fine, but I don’t like being talked down to at the office. Especially over something as inconsequential as this.
Yep–“sneer” is a good way to describe it. Humor like this works best when it’s self-deprecating; if some nameless schmuck at a newsletter is mocking me for what he imagines me saying, I’d want to tell him to kiss my ass, and I’d not read any further in the newsletter.
It’s not horribly offensive, but it is kind of obnoxious.
I am not even slightly offended, but my usual route in these situations is self-deprecation. “A mere 12 years after the turn of the millennium, our paper has decided to embrace this so-called ‘electronic mail’ and do away with hard copies. We hope you can find other paper sources for housebreaking your puppy.”