"Don Pearce" wrote in message

On Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:05:45 -0500, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

You fail to grasp that service is actually a very
generalized word. It includes both maintenance and
repair, and it includes many other things.

No, we are not failing to grasp.

The following paragraph may represent a new high in UKRA miscommunication. I
am talking about one word and you respond as if you were talking about 2
words:

We are quite clear about
the distinction. If they meant the same thing we wouldn't
need two words .

I guess that is another big difference between the UK and the USA. You act
like your dictionary has only one meaning for service, and our dictionaries
list something like 21 different meanings for the word!

Of course from what I've heard about the UK attitude
towards service, whether in the electronics shop or the
coffee shop, I think I understand a lot of the confusion
that you guys are experiencing. No concept of service.
No service attitude.

What confusion would that be? We English (and apparently
Swedes too) understand the difference between service and
repair perfectly. The confusion obviously lies with those
who muddle them up.

In this context USA English indicates that repair is a subset of service.

In the US we consider the "Service Industry" to be a
major business segment. We've profited well by educating
the rest of the world about the meaning of the word
service. Pity that it did not take better in the UK.

You are joking, right? Service in the US comes from
pimply teenagers more interested in dating than serving,
or superannuated grandmothers in unsuitable mini skirts
and support tights. I sigh with relief when I get back
here to be served by actual, real people.

The exclusion of teenagers and retirees from the set of legitimate providers
of service if not the entire human race seems to be another problem that you
struggle with.

BTW it appears that we're going to seriously damage
Toyota in world markets because they did not adequately
learn the meaning of the word service from us. We
tried! To the world it looks like they did themselves
in. Our hands are clean but we are the ones most likely
to profit from their stumbles, all centering on the
meaning of the word service.

Meanings, surely? You are now using the words in a quite
different context to the one the discussion was about.

You mean that you admit that word meanings can depend on context?

That would be real progress!

FWIW I've always had pretty good service in hotels and
resturants in the UK, but I have only been in the the
more civilized parts that foreign tourists commonly
visit, like on the Heathrow side of London.

Visit the rest too. Go to Brick Lane where the
Bangladeshi immigrant community gathers and enjoy some of
the best curry you ever tasted. And of course go to the
bagel shop any time day or night for a salt beef bagel
second to none.

That would be your conceit, that no excellent Bengladeshi cooks ever set up
business in the USA. There are only about 10 times more Bengladeshi in the
UK than USA. Given that we never mistreated ours as you did, it is possible
that we have the far better selection.

As for service, it should be what you want it to be.
Personally I cringe when I go into a restaurant and
somebody I don't know announces "Hi, I'm Brian and I'm
going to be your waiter this evening". Two things - 1. I
couldn't give a crap what his name is and 2. I will
probably guess he is the waiter when he hands me a menu".

Yes, we are aware of how class conscious some in the UK are. We can actually
stomach the idea that the people who serve us are equals or sometimes even
our betters, merely following a different avocation. Therefore, their name
is important to us.

Apparently the attitude towards the primacy of the word
service is lost in other parts of the UK. Sad.

At this point, you're doing a better job than average of convincing me that
I'm right about the UK not getting the fullness of the concept of service.