Pictured: Screenshot of unsolicited e-mail received by me.
Dunno who Toby Deenik is, but he's clearly decided that I should be the unwilling recipient of his unsolicited e-mails - and without an unsubscribe option.
Since he's raised his head above the parapet, let me take the logical potshot and say that if you really, really must use quotations from eastern sources in your e-mail or website signatures, then please take the trouble to get the spelling correct. Getting people's names wrong is rank amateurism. Name and form are inextricably interlinked and to mess with name spelling is the gravest discourtesy of all.
In this case, Toby dear can't spell 'too' correctly and he's got Jawaharlal Nehru's first and surname wrong. Pandit Nehru (pictured) was India's first and longest serving Prime Minister. Toby clearly feels that the Nehru referent power adds something of value to his e-mails, but he's done little other than expose himself to ridicule.
A parenting e-mail newsletter I receive often quotes Gandhi - and despite me mailing the author several times she persistently spells the great mans' name Ghandi. Sad.
A newsletter from a leadership development company arrived in my in-box, announcing with justified fanfare, the participation of a high profile business person on one of their programs. They had both parts of his company name wrong. Not a good impression.
It's important to realise that if someone hits a spelling glitch early in a piece of corresondence from you, they may simply not read any further. It speaks about your lack of attention to detail and your sloppy quality control. Sure, we all make typos - but when it's stuff with an expected lifespan, take the time and trouble to get it right. If you're a lousy editor, get someone else to proof it. Capish?
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