BASIC FOR BUSINESS
by   S. L. Salzedo
"Interpreter in the Supreme Court of Judicature"
London, 1933, 1942
Psyche Miniatures - General Series No. 52

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Division of Pages

Special List of Business Words		Page
To the Reader		7
1 . AGENCIES	Examples	21
2 . REFERENCES	Examples	31
3 . ORDERING	Examples	38
4 . TRANSPORT	Examples	46
5 . CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS	Examples	52
6 . INSURANCE	Examples	61
7 . PAYMENT	Examples	66
8 . OTHER QUESTIONS	Examples	75
9 . BOOKS AND PAPERS	Examples	84
10. REQUEST FOR A POSITION	Examples	90
BUSINESS WORDS PUT INTO BASIC		93

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TO THE READER
    With Basic for Business, another guide to the use of Basic for a special field is put before the public. Here, as in Basic for Science and others, a list of 50 words is given which are t be used for business purposes in addition to the general 850. Most of the space is taken up with business letters and business agreement sin Basic. These have two purposes ; first, to let business men -- and more specially English business men -- see how far Basic has the power of meeting their needs, and second, to give learners examples which may be copied or got by heart.
    There is no discussion here of the general Basic system. A full account of this is given in Basic English and the ABC of Basic English, or, in Basic Step-by-Step.
    A wide field is coved by the word 'business'. It gives no clear picture of a person to say of him, "He is a business man" ; he might be anything from a book-keeper to an insurance expert. Traders, bankers, storekeepers ,and those responsible for operations on the Exchange are all equally business men, though they have little in common but an interest in making money. This interest is so general, however, that it does not give much light on the special interests of those who make a living out of business.
    Naturally, the fact that business has such a number of different branches with so loose a connection between them makes the selection of one list of 50 special words for the needs of every sort of business expert quite impossible. There are certain words, such as liability, purchase, and guarantee which are common to al the branches, but the number of these is very limited. Clearly then, it will be necessary to have separate lists for bankers, insurance men, and so on, in the same way in which we have separate lists for zoologists, chemists, and psychologists, thought hey are all men of science.
    On the other hand there is one branch of business which is, in a very great measure the key to all the rest. The backbone of business is trade. Industry is nothing but an organization for producing goods for the trader ; the chief purpose of insurance is to make the transport of goods a safe undertaking ; and trading operations may have important effects on banks and the money-market. In addition to this, the greatest part of international business has to do with imports and exports. After more than 30 years experience in putting business letters of all sorts and in almost every European language into English, Mr. Salzedo gives it as his opinion that quite 90% of the letters exchanged between business men internationally are about questions of trade.
    For these reasons the decision was made that a Business List of the widest and most general use possible would be formed by making a list of 50 which would give such necessary words as are common to all the branches of business, and the special words needed for trading purposes. There is no doubt that this is the field which teachers of 'Business English' have chiefly in mind when writing their books. To take one example which is representative, all the letters in Professor Okamoto's Business Letters Simplified designed for the Japanese learner at a business school, might be put into good Basic with the help of the Business List printed at the front of this book. Even in a complete system such as handbooks commonly undertake to give almost all the space is taken up with trading details of one sort or another.
    (more) -- 7 pages
    From one point of view Business English has been made as hard for everybody as possible, even for the English themselves. It seems as if the business man has a strange love for putting in long words where simple words would do as well and better.  My favorite is BBC's "Thank you, very much, indeed.' for "Thanks." In this way there has come into existence a special business language which is not based on business needs or interests, and whose only purpose seems to be to make whatever is under discussion seem more important than it is. A business man will 'furnish' details where a normal person would give them ; he 'renders' an account when he might equally well send it in ; letters are talked of as 'favours and payments as 'remittances'. To give a clearer idea of how unnecessarily complex business letters are made in normal English, I will give examples of some of the self-important forms which are frequently used, together with Basic parallels taken from letters here printed :

We are compelled to have recourse to your services.	We are forced to make our request to you.
It afforded us great pleasure.	It gave us great pleasure.
Furnish particulars.	Give details.
I shall esteem it a great favour if you will send.	Will you kindly send.
You may rest assured that.	You may be certain that.
We venture to suggest.	We make the suggestion.

It may be doubted if anyone would seriously say that there is any loss of sense in putting such statements into Basic, and it is to be hoped that some at least will be of the opinion that the simple Basic words are more pleasing and more natural to the ear.
    Traders undertake the sale and purchase of all sorts of goods, but naturally the names of a great number of these are not among the general 850 words. the trading operations of most business houses, however, are limited to certain groups of goods -- fruit, cloth, writing materials and so on --, and wherever this is so it would be very simple to make short lists of the names which are needed in connection with any special group of goods. The question of the general trader is a harder one, and for him some reference t word-books will probably be necessary. but if the general form of a letter is clear, the fact that two or three words in it have to be looked up will give no trouble to anyone.
    To those with a wide interest in business organization the suggestion is made that the special list at the front of this book might be looked at with profit in connection with the special list given in Basic for Economics.
   
    "To the Reader" will be expanded in a few days.

C. K. OGDEN    

The Orthological Institute,
10, King's Parade,
Cambridge, England

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1 . Canal, capital, carton, consul, guarantee, minus, net, per cent., plus, propaganda, stand, wagon, warrant.

-19-

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BASIC FOR BUSINESS -- Examples
    (more)    40 pages AGENCIES ; Examples 1-6, p. 21
REFERENCES ; Examples7-13 , 31
ORDERING ; Examples 14-19 , 38
TRANSPORT ; Examples 20-23 , 46
CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS ; Examples 24-30


INSURANCE ; Examples 31-37, page 61


31 . QUESTION ABOUT INSURANCE

Dear Sirs,

    Will you kindly say if it is your desire for us to take out insurance on the consignments which come through our hands for your account, and if so, against what dangers. We would be able to do so at very low rates.

Yours truly,


32 . ANSWER

Dear Sirs,

    We take out insurance ourselves against danger of having the goods taken, broken, or damaged. We have an open cover and put every consignment on to the insurance agreement.

Yours truly,


33 . CLAIM FOR DAMAGED GOODS

Dear Sirs,

    The goods from the steamer . . . seemed all right when we got them, but on looking at them with greater care, we made the discovery that five boxes had been broken open, and some goods had been taken from these :--
......................................................................................
    In addition, some of the goods still in the boxes were damaged.
    You undertook delivery c.i.t., so will you take the value of these damaged good and of those which we have not had the full amount off the amount of your account. We are keeping the damaged goods till we get your orders. Of the others, a smaller amount than was ordered seem to have been shipped.

Yours truly,


34 . CLAIM NOT QUESTIONED

Dear Sirs,

    We are surprised at the complaint in your letter of the . . . about loss and damage in our consignment to you of . . . . The goods went from our store house in good order, after being looked over with care in the normal way, and the boxes had in them the full amounts name in the packing list.
    Please give us more details about the condition of the boxes when you got them and we will go into the question with our sending agency.
    We are making you the allowance named in your claim, and are sending the new account in two copies, under same cover.

Yours truly,


35 . CLAIMS AGAINST PERSONS GIVING INSURANCE

Dear Sirs,

    The goods which came in the S.S. . . . were discovered to be damaged by water when they got here. We have had the damage valued by Lloyd's valuer here and send you his account of it under the same cover, so that you may get the amount from the persons who gave the insurance. The damage is fixed at a high per cent of the value, that is to say at 30%, as you will see from the account we send you.

Yours truly,


36 . CLAIM SAID NOT TO BE GOOD

Dear Sirs,

    It seems that the goods in question were damaged through being kept on deck, and not in the goods hold. Goods taken on deck are only covered by the agreement when there is a special condition to that effect, and for this reason the persons who gave the insurance say to their regret they are unable to make themselves responsible for this loss.
    Please let us have directions about what other steps, if any, we are to take for you.

Yours truly,

PAYMENT ; Examples 38-43, page 66


    (more) -- 9 pages

OTHER QUESTIONS ; Examples 44-49, page 75


    (more) -- 9 pages


BOOKS AND PAPERS ; Examples 50-58, page 84


50 . QUESTION ABOUT BOOK AGENCY

Dear Sirs,

    There are quite a number of English persons living here, and there is a market for books, specially cheap fiction. Will you let us have these on an agreement which lets us send back copies of which there has not been a sale?

Yours truly,


51 . ANSWER

Dear Sirs,

    Our experience is that such a number of copies come back dirty and not in a condition for sale, that we have a great loss. We send a list of books with a wide public, but we are only able to take orders for which you make yourselves full responsible.

Yours truly,


52 . QUESTION ABOUT BOOK RIGHTS

Dear Sirs,

    Are any works by Mr. . . . still free ? If so, please send a list of those still free, and if possible some copies for reading. Our market is a small one so we are only able to make an offer of a small payment of . . . on sales, or would make a purchase of the rights of putting the books into . . . .

Yours truly,


53 . ANSWERS

Dear Sirs,

    Book rights only are free. It would be necessary to give us a payment of 10% of retail price, of books, paper covered, of which sale is made. Payment of . . . to be made when taking over the rights on account of the said amount of 10%. Rights to come back to us if not printed again inside one year after the sale of all copies of a printing. In your answer please give reference . . . .

Yours truly,


54 . SALE OF RIGHTS OF PUTTING A BOOK INTO ANOTHER LANGUAGE

Dear Sirs,

    -- (more) --

Yours truly,


55 . PAYMENT TO HAVE A PAPER REGULARLY

Dear Sirs,

    Desiring to take in your very interesting paper, I am sending herewith international money order for the amount of . . . being a payment for one year of the paper. Will you please send it to me regularly at this address . . .

Yours truly,


56 . TWO COPIES OF THE SAME ORDER

Dear Sirs,

    Your order for a year's payment for . . . is the same as another order in your name which came through the book store . . .
    Are we to send back one of those payments or send you the paper for two years?

Yours truly,


57 . NUMBERS OF WHICH DELIVERY HAS NOT BEEN MADE

Dear Sirs,

    The numbers of . . . of your paper have not come to hand, so will you please send second copies of these, because it is my special desire to have all the numbers complete. I am hoping you will see your way to do this without charge.
    I send an international ticket for stamps for your answer.

Yours truly,


58 . STOPPING ORDER FOR A PAPER

Dear Sirs,

    In the interests of my banking-account it is necessary for me to put a stop to my order for certain papers printed outside this country.
    Please take note that when the payment I have made up to the end of this month comes to an end, I will not be sending you another order.

Yours truly,


REQUEST FOR A POSITION ; Examples 59-60


59 . REQUEST FOR A POSITION

Dear Sirs,

    I am writing to see if there is any position open in your business which I might be able to take.
    I am 30 years old, and have had wide business experience. I had a position for two years with Messrs. . . . and Co., exporters of wood, as accounts assistance, and doing book-keeping work generally. I was later with the business of I. G., exporters of wood for 3 years, and here I did the letter-writing, at first under someone's control, but later acting only under the orders of the heads of the business. After that I took up my position in the business I am now in, and having quickly got into the way of the office work in connection with the business, Messrs. . . . gave me complete control of the letters to and from other countries, most of which were in Basic English, of which I have a good knowledge.
    I am still with Messrs. . . . , and have every reason for the belief that they are pleased with my work, but I have a desire to make a change, for the purpose of getting a better position, into some business where there is more chance of doing responsible and interesting work. It would, however, be only right for me not to go from the business I am at present with (whose name I will give you if there is any chance that you may be able to give me a position) for at least one month after they have knowledge of my decision.
    I am quick at accounts, and used to office work and organization. I am able to make an adjustment to new work and conditions very quickly. I am certain that I would be able to undertake responsible work.
    I may say in addition that I am married, with a family of one, and there is nothing at all against me in my record. I send under same cover copies of the references given to me by the businesses I was with before and will let you see the references themselves at your request.
    I would be pleased to give answers to any questions on other points which it might be your desire to put to me.
    Hoping that you may be interested in my letter,

    I am,
    Yours truly,


60 . ANSWER TO AN ADVERTISEMENT

Dear Sirs,

    In answer to your advertisement in the . . . for a stenographer and writing-machine expert, I am interested in the position offered.
    I am 25 years old, and have had office experience for 7 years.
    I am free at present, the business I was with last having been shut down because of the bad condition of trade. I have very good references.
    My rates are : shorthand 120, machine-writing 80. I am in addition experienced in record-systems and office work generally.
    I would be pleased to come to you for . . . at the start.
    Hoping to have an answer from you,
    I am,
    Yours truly,

    -92- < Top       Next >
   

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Special Wordlist for Business : (50)   (frontispiece) acceptance, address, agency, allowance, assets, assistant, average, bale, bankrupt, barrel, bill, broker, certificate, charge, claim, client, code, complaint, consignment, cost, court, customs, debit, deck, defect, delivery, export, gross, guarantee, hire, hold, import, investment, liability, license, load, loan, packing, pair, partner, purchase, reference, retail, sale, sample, show, sight, strike, supply, wholesale.

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