Feedback & Next Month

Your letters to Spotlight and upcoming topics

Dear Ms Sharp

Let me take the opportunity to say how much I love your “specials” on Spotlight Audio. These Roundtable talks sound so natural and give such an authentic feeling of dropping in on you at your place. You have such different opinions, and it is a pleasure to listen to them (e.g. on gardens, or on being British). Then there is another thing. Recently, I was driving behind a logistics van of a German company that had the slogan “For you, we drive to the desert” printed on its back door. In German, this may make sense: Für Sie fahren wir (sogar) in die Wüste. But the wording/grammar of the English slogan sounds wrong to me. How would you formulate such a slogan? Is it nonsense in English? Or is it correct? I doubt it.

Best wishes from an avid reader of Spotlight,

R. Spahn, by e-mail

Dear Ms Spahn

Thank you so much for your e-mail. I’m delighted to hear that you enjoy our Roundtable track on Spotlight Audio. We certainly have a lot of fun recording it.

You are right about the slogan. It sounds strange in English. Most people would probably understand what is implied, but more elegant (and grammatically less jarring) versions could be: “For you, we would drive to the desert.” / “For you, we would even drive to the desert.” / “For you, we would drive to the desert and beyond.” OK, now I am getting carried away. If there is a shared cultural/linguistic background, you can get away with this kind of pithy slogan. But when that background is missing, it may sound like nonsense. We hope you continue to read and enjoy Spotlight.

Kind regards,

Inez Sharp, editor-in-chief