Dears In Goanet Digest, Vol 3, Issue 1140: "Roland Francis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> in the thread A Need To Soothe the Mind whilst responding to some comments made by Miguel Braganza, made the following brutish comments:
"One more request: Please stop calling us "dears", a kind of a gay, wimpish, transvestite-sounding word." I did try to search and see whether 'Dears'' has any gay connotation but could not. So apart from the fact that Roland wants to display his intolerance against gays, what he obviously is intending to do when he uses 'gay, wimpish, transvestite-sounding' to qualify the noun 'word' is to insult the person he is referring to. Roland wants to imply that he is 'gay, wimpish, and transvestite, just as when I use the adjective 'brutish' to qualify the noun 'comments' I am implying that it is Roland who is a brute. I bring this up because I too use the term frequently, and most particularly in my column in the Herald, Cheers Dears. Just as a matter of information, salutations such as Dear as in Dear Roland or in Konkani Mogall Roland, can be termed as phatic communication.[ See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phatic ] - It does not mean that Roland is Dear or Mogall to anyone except in some very special circumstances. When addressing large audiences in letters to newspapers or Internet mailing-lists, what should the salutation be? Should it be 'Dear Messieurs and Mesdames' or 'Dear Ladies and Gentlemen' or 'Dear Readers? I find these too archaic and stilted. Personally I like the convention that I use - Dears. Unlike with Roland, to me it sounds pleasant and nformal. And if someone says that the British or Americans don't use it, well just tell them where they can get off. And say that we Goans do. And BTW Roland, I happen to be married, and if you ever think I'm wimpish just make sure you never come close to my fists. Cheers Augusto 40, Novo Portugal, Moira, Bardez, Goa, India E [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] P 0832-2470336 M 9881126350
