Is the usage of "may" correct in the given sentence?

Kindly place the execution file on live system so that it may be tested.

bit3034 said:

Kindly place the execution file on live system so that it may be tested.

Click to expand...

I guess this means something like "Upload the executable file onto the system so that it may be tested."
Yes, the usage of 'may' is correct.

What about the usage of "kindly"? It seems unnatural to me. I'd use please or some other polite way of asking.

CarloSsS said:

What about the usage of "kindly"? It seems unnatural to me. I'd use please or some other polite way of asking.

Click to expand...

It's fine with "kindly".

Thanx Buddy

bit3034 said:

Thanks Buddy

Click to expand...

Your thanks are appreciated, bit3034, but please don't use "text speak" on the forum.

CarloSsS said:

What about the usage of "kindly"? It seems unnatural to me. I'd use please or some other polite way of asking.

Click to expand...

Hi CarloSsS,

Haven't you noticed this expression is mainly used by member from Asia? I guess they just use the translation of their commom addressing formula.

charliedeut

charliedeut said:

Hi CarloSsS,

Haven't you noticed this expression is mainly used by member from Asia? I guess they just use the translation of their commom addressing formula.

charliedeut

Click to expand...

Yes, I have. That is why I asked. I don't have any recollection of hearing kindly used like that. I also think that it's a literal translation, but apparently it's all right to use kindly like that. Here kindly - Definition and pronunciation | Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com -- the second usage would correspond and it. No wonder I've never heard it used like that, according to OALD it's old-fashioned and formal at that.

bhaisahab said:

Your thanks are appreciated, bit3034, but please don't use "text speak" on the forum.

Click to expand...

Is writing "Buddy" with capital "B" all right, or did you just overlook it?

CarloSsS said:

Is writing "Buddy" with capital "B" all right, or did you just overlook it?

Click to expand...

I would have changed it to lower case.

bhaisahab said:

It's fine with "kindly".

Click to expand...

This is one of the rare times when I disagree with bhai. For me, 'kindly' has overtones of impatience, annoyance or an authoritarian stance.

5jj said:

This is one of the rare times when I disagree with bhai. For me, 'kindly' has overtones of impatience, annoyance or an authoritarian stance.

Click to expand...

That is what OALD (kindly - Definition and pronunciation | Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com) says about the usage of kindly in such contexts, but it also gives this example sentences:

Kindly leave me alone! (Here, the speaker is clearly annoyed)
Visitors are kindly requested to sign the book. (I think that this is a case of just politely asking to sign the book).

Macmillan Dictionary states that kindly can also be used for making polite requests, here kindly - definition of kindly by Macmillan Dictionary -- 2.a.

CarloSsS said:

Visitors are kindly requested to sign the book. (I think that this is a case of just politely asking to sign the book).

Click to expand...

This falls into my 'authoritarian stance' category. The 'kindly' softens it, but it's an order, [/QUOTE]Macmillan Dictionary states that kindly can also be used for making polite requests, here kindly - definition of kindly by Macmillan Dictionary -- 2.a.[/QUOTE]Yes indeed, definition 2.a. The main definition, 2, is: formal: used for asking someone to do something, especially when you are trying to hide the fact that you are annoyd. This request may not be hiding annoyance, but is is a formal, firm request - a polite order.

Well, that's my opinion.

5jj said:

This is one of the rare times when I disagree with bhai. For me, 'kindly' has overtones of impatience, annoyance or an authoritarian stance.

Click to expand...

I do see your point. I'm probably influenced by the amount of time I have spent with speakers of Indian English.

bhaisahab said:

I do see your point. I'm probably influenced by the amount of time I have spent with speakers of Indian English.

Click to expand...

I'm the same here in Prague with 'Important is (that)...'. Influenced by hundreds of Czech students and colleagues (some of who speak very good English indeed), I have found myself saying that, rather than 'What is important is ...' or 'The important thing is ...'. . I have also been known to tell colleagues who ask what I am doing at the weekend, "I'm going on the cottage in the nature". .

The difference is that 'Kindly', meaning 'please', is not horribly wrong in British English, but the two expressions I use, especially the second, are.

5jj said:

I have also been known to tell colleagues who ask what I am doing at the weekend, "I'm going on the cottage in the nature". .

Click to expand...

You did? Really? That's typical Czenglish that I hear from Czech learners all the time.

CarloSsS said:

You did? Really? That's typical Czenglish that I hear from Czech learners all the time.

Click to expand...

As a Czech teacher of English, you will almost certainly be so conscious of this non-English that you would never say it yourself. As a native speaker of English, I think I am, paradoxically, more prone to such slips, especially at the end of a long, hard day. I would never let my learners get away with it; the teacher part of my brain was too powerful for that. However, it was always keeping my ears pricked for learner errors, and occasionally didn't spot my own.

5jj said:

. . . 'Kindly', meaning 'please', is not horribly wrong in British English. . .

Click to expand...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again—I use 'kindly', meaning 'please' occasionally, and don't consider it to be even slightly wrong.

Rover

Rover_KE said:

I've said it before, and I'll say it again—I use 'kindly', meaning 'please' occasionally, and don't consider it to be even slightly wrong.

Rover

Click to expand...

As with most things, when spoken it entirely depends on your tone of voice. If I heard "Kindly remove your feet from my chair!" in a stern voice, I would assume it was being used in an authoritarian manner. If someone said "Would you kindly open that window for me [please]?" I would consider it a) correct and b) perfectly polite.