词汇大师(Wordmaster)--Writing Thank-You Notes

Broadcast on "Coast to Coast": November 28, 2002

MUSIC: "Thank You For ... "/Hall and Oates

AA: No, thank you -- for listening! I'm Avi Arditti.

RS: And I'm Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster: Some advice on how to write a thank-you note, as many people will do in this season of holiday gift giving.

AA: Laura Kimoto is an instructor¹ in the Intensive English Program at Hawaii Community College. She's been teaching her students from Asia what Americans learn about writing thank-you's -- which is, above all, give details about what you're saying thanks for.

Laura Kimoto points out the need for students to vary their writing. For instance, instead of using the word "kindness" several times, she offers synonyms² like "hospitality," "generosity³" or "thoughtfulness."

RS: Some things, though, are harder to teach, like the social customs that make some words better left unsaid.

KIMOTO: "For example, a girl used the word 'cute' to refer to this elderly couple: 'You are a cute elderly couple.'"

AA: What's wrong with being called a "cute elderly couple"?

RS: Well, Americans generally avoid calling attention to age. And, to refer to an older couple as "cute" might seem a little condescending⁴.

AA: Of course the student had no idea! She was just trying to thank a nice couple she had met.

RS: You even have to be careful with your closing salutation.

AA: "Do you not end a thank-you note with love? Is that not a good idea?"

KIMOTO: "I would say that is not a good idea, depending on who the person is you are writing to, but most likely not."

RS: This time of year, Laura Kimoto suggests to her students at Hawaii Community College: "Wishing you health and peace for the New Year."

AA: A phrase worthy⁵ of a professional greeting card -- which is what Sandra Louden has written lots of over the years. She says a thank-you should be "sincere" and "heartfelt" -- and, again, big on specifics!

RS: Sandra Louden says that even if a person gives you a gift of money, you should tell the giver how you plan to use it.

LOUDEN: "You always remember, in any type of note you write, especially a thank-you note, it should have that me-to-you quality. In other words I am writing this note to specifically thank you, so I have you in mind when I am writing this. So that me-to-you voice is always very nice, very heartfelt, very successful, it makes for a very successful thank-you note."

RS: Sandra Louden says she likes to add a touch of humor, but knows that some people are afraid to include it, afraid that, as writers, they're too serious to be funny. If that's you, consider this:

LOUDEN: "It's really not as hard as you think, if you think in a certain way, and one of those ways that I talk about in classes that I teach, is to think literally⁶. You might try something like 'thanks a bunch' and on the front maybe draw a bunch of grapes and have yourself smiling and sitting in those bunch of grapes, and that would be 'thanks a bunch.'

AA: "(laughing) I never thought of that!"

LOUDEN: "And if you want to do 'thanks a bunch' again, just think of anything with a bunch. You could do a bunch of bananas. Now if you want to get into another expression, then you say like 'thanks a million,' maybe you want to tack⁷ some fake money on the front of the card you make. You want to hand make a card and you get some of those one-hundred-thousand-dollar bills that they sell in novelty shops, and you tack that on the front of your card and you say 'thanks a ... thanks a million.'"

RS: And, she says, you can even employ humor on thank-you cards in a business setting.

LOUDEN: "For a lawyer for instance, 'There is no reasonable doubt, we thank you very much.' Or for an accountant, 'when we tally⁸ our blessings⁹, we count you among them. Thank you for your patronage¹⁰.' I find that humor is a state of mind -- it cuts across age, gender¹¹, what have you. Everyone appreciates a good laugh and a smile. And with a thank you card, another component¹² is to keep it very short and to the point, and if it's based on a pun or a play on words, even if it's very corny, it gets the message across and it adds that little extra punch that people remember."

AA: Sandra Louden is author of the book "Write Well and Sell Greeting Cards." She also teaches an Internet course at。。。。。.

RS: And we'd like you to remember our e-mail address: it's。。。。。Or write us at VOA Wordmaster, Washington DC 20237 USA. Oh, and thank you in advance!

AA: With Rosanne Skirble, I'm Avi Arditti.

MUSIC: "Kind & Generous"/Natalie Merchant

 

1 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

2 synonyms   

同义词( synonym的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• If you want to grasp English, you must carefully discriminate synonyms. 如果你想掌握好英语，你必须仔细区分同义词。
• Study the idioms and synonyms l wrote down before your test. 学考试前我给你写的习惯用语和同义字。

3 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

4 condescending   

adj.谦逊的,故意屈尊的

参考例句：

• He has a condescending attitude towards women. 他对女性总是居高临下。
• He tends to adopt a condescending manner when talking to young women. 和年轻女子说话时，他喜欢摆出一副高高在上的姿态。

5 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

6 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

7 tack   

n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝

参考例句：

• He is hammering a tack into the wall to hang a picture.他正往墙上钉一枚平头钉用来挂画。
• We are going to tack the map on the wall.我们打算把这张地图钉在墙上。

8 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

9 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 patronage   

n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场

参考例句：

• Though it was not yet noon,there was considerable patronage.虽然时间未到中午，店中已有许多顾客惠顾。
• I am sorry to say that my patronage ends with this.很抱歉，我的赞助只能到此为止。

11 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

12 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。