chainmail
Regular crap chain mail, the type that tells you that you must forward it to ten people or something bad will happen uses your fear to push it along, or the type that tells you to forward it in order to see a trick, that hopes you'll be enticed enough to push it along. Religious chain mail says "You send all that crap chain mail, so why don't you send this one too? Are you embarrassed by God?" Then I yell at the e-mail: "I don't send the crap chain mail. In fact, I don't send any chain mail. If anyone asks me, I'll tell them Jesus died for our sins, was resurrected and ascended into heaven, all for us. But I'm not going to be the jerk that fills up their inbox with things they can't read for weeks, even if they wanted to, because they are too busy (like me)."
Anything that plays upon someone's emotions is somehow evil. The only chain mail I don't get mad at is the kind that is sent solely for my enjoyment or enlightenment and does not hint in any way that I should "pass it on". If I judge that it is important enough for everyone to know, I will forward it.
This reminds me of something I read in the text for my current translation class about the differences between British and American advertising as an example to show how important stylistics and register are even between two cultures with essentially the same language. It said that, "...hectoring and hard-sell styles appear in general to be more accepting in American than in British advertising, where overpraising a product is seen as unpleasantly boastful, and any kind of overkill can only be used for humorous purposes. ...the tendency in British advertising is to stereotype the customer as a discerning equal, not someone to be browbeaten or patronized; consequently, the tonal register of some American advertisements might be considered offensive by some British customers." (Sándor Hervey, Ian Higgins and Louise M. Haywood, Thinking Spanish Translation) The point: I am British in my sensiblities, not American. I am offended when chain mail yells at me after I have been polite enough to read it. I read it because I care about the person who sent it to me, so why does it not reply in kind?
All of you English-only speakers, be glad you don't speak Spanish or I may have sent you a chain mail once or twice.
Anything that plays upon someone's emotions is somehow evil. The only chain mail I don't get mad at is the kind that is sent solely for my enjoyment or enlightenment and does not hint in any way that I should "pass it on". If I judge that it is important enough for everyone to know, I will forward it.
This reminds me of something I read in the text for my current translation class about the differences between British and American advertising as an example to show how important stylistics and register are even between two cultures with essentially the same language. It said that, "...hectoring and hard-sell styles appear in general to be more accepting in American than in British advertising, where overpraising a product is seen as unpleasantly boastful, and any kind of overkill can only be used for humorous purposes. ...the tendency in British advertising is to stereotype the customer as a discerning equal, not someone to be browbeaten or patronized; consequently, the tonal register of some American advertisements might be considered offensive by some British customers." (Sándor Hervey, Ian Higgins and Louise M. Haywood, Thinking Spanish Translation) The point: I am British in my sensiblities, not American. I am offended when chain mail yells at me after I have been polite enough to read it. I read it because I care about the person who sent it to me, so why does it not reply in kind?
All of you English-only speakers, be glad you don't speak Spanish or I may have sent you a chain mail once or twice.