Taking a Decision

One of the hazards of being an expat is developing the potential to use your own language incorrectly, not in big glaring ways, but in little ones, and not realizing it. Once in a while, I catch myself saying “I opened my phone” instead of saying “I answered” it, even after many frustrating attempts to convince a student that one turns on the lights/projector/television etc. I’ve almost resigned myself to “opening” rather than “turning on.”

There are misuses of certain words, however, that irritate. Forget about kids who announce “Hocam, I’m boring,” (indeed Tolgay, you are) in the middle of the lesson, or those who say “funny” instead of “fun,” or “scary” rather than “scared.” I can’t really be too fussy about that, especially since I only learned grammar through studying other languages.

No, the examples that grate on my nerves usually come up in the English office. For a group of people whose job it is to foster communication, we do it very poorly. Announcements are not announced in meetings, but are posted on the walls, bulletin boards and storage spaces. Posts have included such gems as: “All unit plans must be sent until Friday.” (“Until” instead of “by” is frequently tossed around because, I think, it’s the same word in Turkish.) I fixed it after about the 3rd such notice.

The following example annoys me no end, and not just because I really like to be right as often as possible. At my school, we “take decisions.” To me, this is like nails on a chalk board. Never in my life have I heard of a “decision taken” until I started to teach here. Where I come from, we make them, we don’t take them. Like “opening the lights,” the source seems to be from a direct translation from Turkish. Finally, I asked – and politely thank you! – if I could change the notice on the white board to read “made” rather than “taken” and explained my reasoning. We just don’t say it.

The following morning, my colleague opened a Longman dictionary (the same one we insist the kids buy but seldom if never use) to show me that decisions are indeed taken, but when they are taken by a group after deliberation. Far be it from me to argue with the dictionary. The dictionary has all kinds of good, useful but not often or differently used words. I admitted the error of my ways.

And yet, I’m still bothered. As a result, I’d like to take an informal survey of my fellow native English speaking friends. Do you ever take decisions, with or without a group, sans or avec deliberation? Please don’t look it up in the dictionary, just let me know how you express the completed act of coming to a decision. I'll post your responses.

I thank you in advance.