Honestly?

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dervast

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Hello.
Yesterday, one of my colleagues made a joke concerning one of my daily habits. Actually making jokes in my country sometimes is a way of implying that you are doing something that others do not like it.
So, I have tried to ask my colleague if there is any problem. I wanted my colleague to be honest so I asked the following
"Honestly George, Do you have any problem regarding my..."

I think I am using Honestly (at the beginning of the sentence) in a way that is ok in my country but not in English. Could you please help me ask the same question using honest-ly in a more British-appropriate way?

Best Regards
Alex.
 

BobK

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Hello.
Yesterday, one of my colleagues made a joke concerning one of my daily habits. Actually making jokes in my country sometimes is a way of implying that you are doing something that others do not like it.
So, I have tried to ask my colleague if there is any problem. I wanted my colleague to be honest so I asked the following
"Honestly George, Do you have any problem regarding my..."

I think I am using Honestly (at the beginning of the sentence) in a way that is ok in my country but not in English. Could you please help me ask the same question using honest-ly in a more British-appropriate way?

Best Regards
Alex.

Perhaps 'Don't use it at the beginning of a sentence when you mean 'speaking in an honest way'. ;-) It's more likely to be used there as a sort of reinforcement: Honestly, I never heard of such a thing in all my life!

In your case you could put a sort of tag at the end of your question:'Do you have ... ? Be honest/Tell the truth/Don't pull your punches' (the last is informal). Or you could use a similar command (or condition) before your question: 'Be honest - Do you ...? or 'Being honest, will you tell me....? Or, jokingly you could add 'I'm a big boy now - I can take it.'

b
 

Raymott

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Hello.
Yesterday, one of my colleagues made a joke concerning one of my daily habits. Actually making jokes in my country sometimes is a way of implying that you are doing something that others do not like it.
So, I have tried to ask my colleague if there is any problem. I wanted my colleague to be honest so I asked the following
"Honestly George, Do you have any problem regarding my..."

I think I am using Honestly (at the beginning of the sentence) in a way that is ok in my country but not in English. Could you please help me ask the same question using honest-ly in a more British-appropriate way?

Best Regards
Alex.
Regardless of any grammatical arguments, this is a common thing to say. I'm pretty sure George would understand what you meant (assuming he speaks English).
 

BobK

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When I said 'Perhaps...' I wasn't stating any kind of rule, I was just suggesting that in my experience a native speaker of Br Eng wouldn't start with the word 'Honestly' in the situation you described.

I've been reflecting on this, and come up with what I think is a more likely adverbial phrase: 'In all honesty,...' [Note: No L. The word is 'honesTY'.] This phrase is typically used at the beginning of questions needing an honest answer.

b
 
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Raymott

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I've been reflecting on this, and come up with what I think is a more likely adverbial phrase: 'In all honesty,...' [Note: No L. The word is 'honesTY'.] This phrase is typically used at the beginning of questions needing an honest answer.

b
"In all honesty, ..." is a good phrase.
So is "Speaking honestly, ...", of which "Honestly, ..." is a colloquial contraction.
 

dervast

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"In all honesty, ..." is a good phrase.
So is "Speaking honestly, ...", of which "Honestly, ..." is a colloquial contraction.


Could you please provide an example of the In all honesty phrase?

Best Regards
 

sarat_106

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Could you please provide an example of the In all honesty phrase?

Best Regards

If you say something in all honesty, you are telling the complete truth. It can be used as a way of introducing a negative opinion whilst trying to be polite;
In all honesty, I have to say that I was not happy with her result.

It is effectively used to admit one’s fault.
Admittedly, I'm responsible and for that, I'm sorry. But in all honesty, if I had the chance, I'd do it again.
 
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