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Mr enquirer ??

Mr enquirer ??

Mr enquirer ??

(OP)
I have received a mail from an university in UK addressing me as Mr enquirer. Is this form of address, order of the day.
My identity was available with the  sender which could have been used.
Normal form would be Dear Sir/Madam or Dear Mr .....

RE: Mr enquirer ??

This is a first for me.

I would attribute it to a translation issue. The writer is translating from another language?

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."   
Albert Einstein
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

RE: Mr enquirer ??

I have never heard of that before. Perhaps you should reply to "Mr Responder" or "Mr Answerer". smile

cheers
SW07-SP3

RE: Mr enquirer ??

How about "Mr. Idiot"?

RE: Mr enquirer ??

(OP)
This mail I received from the international admissions office of the university regarding admission for my son into their engineering program.

RE: Mr enquirer ??

If they don't know my name, or the correct spelling, I don't respond and delete it.

Chris
SolidWorks 07 3.0/PDMWorks 07
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 03-13-07)

RE: Mr enquirer ??

Hopefully that is not an indication of the teaching competence of the university.

cheers
SW07-SP3

RE: Mr enquirer ??

What university was it?  Or would you rather not say.

Was it a 'proper' university or one of those jumped up polytechnics.

Might explain the letter.

(Just kiddingwinky smile)

I've never heard of it either.

Maybe the letter was based on a template, you're meant to replace 'enquirer' with the persons name but someone forgot to do so.

RE: Mr enquirer ??

(OP)
"Stimulating intellectual curiosity since 1825". I do not want to disclose  more about it at this stage. I hope the tutor in charge with whom I shall be corresponding shall be more respectful?

RE: Mr enquirer ??

That's enough to find out which university!

RE: Mr enquirer ??

The phrase suggests that a smart-ass Brit set up the letter generator.  Maybe having an attitude attack over poverty wages, or maybe not too slyly protesting use of a letter generator instead of corresponding at a more personal level.

OR, more likely, ...

The letter generator/ mail merge automaton is set up to substitute a field name, e.g. "enquirer", instead of that field's contents, when the field is blank in a given record.  I.e., someone at the university may know who you are, but their database just knows there's someone of interest at your address.

I wouldn't worry about it.





Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: Mr enquirer ??

I once heard of a letter addressed:

Dear <Rich B*stard>

that went out to someone's premier clients.

RE: Mr enquirer ??

I'd have expected that particular institution to do a bit better.

I have occasionally seen salutations along the lines of "Dear Inquirer" - more usually "Dear Customer" - but adding the "Mr" to that is bizarre.

A.

RE: Mr enquirer ??

A possibility: unset variables.

It could be that the author of the response to your letter opened a document template for the reply. Many word processors have variables which can be used throughout a document. "Date" is a useful variable, so that the correct date can be put on replies without it having to be typed differently every time a letter is sent.

Variables might be used if the same text needs to be repeated many times in a document. I'd also use a variable if some text needed to be changed which was buried inside a document. When the template is opened, the custom variables should be set to appropriate values.

A variable might not be set properly due to someone forgetting, or the template being used by somebody else: a collegue, new starter, etc.

This looks to me like it might be an unset variable taking its default value, but it could just as easily be strange English as speculated in previous postings.

RE: Mr enquirer ??

A google search on "good things about living in birmingham" does not have any results.

Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

RE: Mr enquirer ??

True if you're looking for the exact phrase.

Then again, "good things about living in Santa Barbara" didn't get any results either.

If you limit your search to "good things about living in" the first result is UK which is interesting.

Still not as good as "French Military Victories" - I'm feeling lucky.

I know it's not fair or true but as a Brit I can't help but chuckle.

Birmingham - it is the Midlands so who knows what the common form of address up there issmile.

RE: Mr enquirer ??

KENAT,

Stiil love that French Military Victories google hack...one of the best.

There was another one about US president....but can't remember it

Kevin Hammond

Mechanical Design Engineer
Derbyshire, UK
 

RE: Mr enquirer ??

It has to do with "failure" and the website of a certain executive branch office in D.C.

RE: Mr enquirer ??

"French Military Victories"
We are indebted to Steve Lerner, a 22-year-old Toronto student, who said he created the page as "a humorous way of showing political opposition against France's weaseling."
So no guilty Brit consciences.

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

RE: Mr enquirer ??

As an Ex Aston student - nothing would surprise me about brum uni!

Try the Engineering course there - much better ;)

RE: Mr enquirer ??

SLemin, I deliberately didn't go down the track of pointing out better unis based on where I went.

However, as you started it, the phrase used at my particular university was along the lines of "southern and superior".

RE: Mr enquirer ??

(OP)
SLemin and Kenat,thanks I have started pursuing other universities too in UK and Ireland .

" All that is necessary for triumph of evil is that good men do nothing".
Edmund Burke

RE: Mr enquirer ??

Sorry arunmrao, the UK like the States has a certain amount of rivalry between universities.  Most of us probably think the one we went to was best.

Aston is very close to Birmingham UNI and they are kind of arch rivals, hence Slemins comment.  My University was very arogant and convinced we were the best, hence mine.

In reality do the research and see which looks good, there are plenty to choose from.  Don't just look at the University prospectus, try looking elsewhere even if it's just google searches or asking questions here.  When I was picking universities all the prospectuses made them look nice.  However a couple of them when I actually visited were more like dingey factory complexes from the 60s or before, so do your homework!

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