Wednesday 5 February 2020

Academic Research: [回應訴求 during #WARS?]

Image from BYU BNC

Image from BYU COCA


[回應訴求 during #WARS?]

Maybe it is just me and my poor Cantonese / Chinese + translation, but the expression 回應訴求 doesn't sound right to me (and always irritates me every time I hear it).

Given that
回應 (vb) = to respond to;
訴求 (n ) = (public / popular / - ) demand(s);

Asking HKGov to 回應訴求 (in Cantonese) does not seem to imply that a positive outcome is expected, which may explain why HKGov officials almost always claim that "we have responded, and the answer is 'no'".

Statistically, in UK / US English at least, "to meet demands" and "to satisfy demands" (滿足訴求 in Cantonese) are much more frequent (FYI: by the multiples) than "to respond to demands".

So maybe it is time to start using 滿足訴求 instead of 回應訴求 from now on.

Just saying.

#StandWithMedics


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