FFS. Don’t they have anyone who can write a proper letter of condolence?

Published: April 17, 2013 at 10:29pm

letter of condolence

“This egregious attack is all the more senseless on account of it targeting such a beloved and world-renowned event.”

The scale of what’s wrong with this sentence, and the sentiment it expresses, is beyond me to explain right now. And I don’t even want to start on the grammar and syntax.




41 Comments Comment

  1. MD says:

    Kemm qeghdin sew.

  2. Ramona says:

    “Mr President”? Who is he, Marilyn Monroe?

  3. Bubu says:

    My God, how embarrassing.

  4. H. Prynne says:

    Of course, he had to express his condolences in his own name first, then the Government, then the people of Malta.

    Pretentious or what?

    It’s supposed to go something like this:
    On behalf of the Government and the people of Malta, I offer my deepest condolences…

    FFS even I know this and I’m a bloody nobody. I’ll compose it for you next time if you want, Dr. Muscat. For a fee of course.

    • etil says:

      It says a lot of a person who continuously uses ‘I’ in conversation and correspondence. It is obvious that when writing one should always start with ‘On behalf of………’ etc.
      Elementary my dear Joseph, but then you do not give a hoot as long as you are always being mentioned first and foremost.

  5. Harry Purdie says:

    Barack, on receipt, ‘Who’s this guy? Oh, from Malta, they speak Maltese? Did he use Google translator?’

  6. marlowe says:

    It’s blatantly obvious that someone just Googled ‘synonyms for awful’. That tone isn’t fooling anybody either – reminds me of Larkin.

  7. P Sant says:

    Is the Maltese government holding any ‘beloved events’ this year? Obama might like to know about them.

  8. el bandido guapo says:

    Wot a load of garbage.

    If the original were in Russian, Google Translate would have done a better job.

  9. stunned says:

    A truly idiotic letter. It is so embarrassing and yet I’m laughing at it.

  10. stunned says:

    Rereading it, it looks like a letter written from Zimbabwe. (Please don’t take offence at a classic expression.)

  11. Antoine Vella says:

    He must have missed a lot of English lessons at St Aloysius. Probably was out looking for undervests all the time.

  12. Harry Purdie says:

    Have just been informed from a US Senate source, that this letter will enshrined into the US Library of Congress, in the section entitled, ‘Duh?’

  13. village says:

    Joseph qabbad lill xi hadd juza l-Google biex jiktiblek ittra sew.

  14. Liberal says:

    How dare they spoil a world-renowned event! Oh, people died? Condolences for them too, then.

    What a tosser.

  15. La Redoute says:

    Don’t mock. Barack and Joseph have been penfriends for a long time. We know about it because Muscat told the Times:

    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20081105/local/joseph-muscat-writes-to-obama.231980
    Dr Muscat told Senator Obama that his election was welcome news for all those who shared their belief that environment and climate change were not just trendy topics for discussion but crucial issues of great importance for the well being of mankind.

    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090206/local/obama-thanks-muscat.243805
    Your thoughtful message is much appreciated.

  16. Min Jaf says:

    Written by Kurt Farrugia, for sure.

  17. aidan says:

    L-ittra ta’ kondoljanzi qeda ghand l-FBI ghax qed jissuspettaw li t-terroristi stess kitbuha u mhux il-PM ta’ Malta.

  18. one of us says:

    http://www.formsofaddress.info/FOA_president_US.html-199k
    I see no mention of The Hon and both start and end of letter are wrong.

  19. Tania says:

    This letter was addressed to the US President but speaks volumes to us.

    It provides an insight as to why the electorate found Dr Lawrence Gonzi to be a cut above the rest and preferred to settle for utter mediocrity instead – somebody they did not need to look up to.

    I read the letter and cringed. The word “egregious” translates as “flagrant” or “conspicuously bad or offensive” – totally inappropriate for a letter of condolence. However, I am certain others will be impressed by the pompous tone.

  20. Josette says:

    And he’s now speaking in my name … If he has to, couldn’t he at least do it in a comprehensible manner?

  21. Peter Mallia says:

    It’s interesting how the guy changed his signature since being appointed Prime Minister. How did you miss that, Daphne?

  22. vanni says:

    And what the hell is that scribble with a blue pen? It looks like Mr. Prerishemo.

    For sure that is not Mr. President. Couldn’t he be bothered to write legibly?

    Oh, and Joe, seeing you signed it, you can’t shift the blame to some minion, so don’t bother trying.

  23. Stella says:

    Evarist Bartolo had declared that the standard of English in Malta has deteriorated. I wonder what he thinks of this letter.

  24. OMG says:

    Reminded me somehow of that old sitcom Mind Your Language.

  25. Ghoxrin Punt says:

    “egregious”? Where did that come from?

    And we have another Franco here: me, me and me again. How rude not to know that the I is always at the end and never at the beginning.

    Mediocrity, sorry, meritocracy…. yeah right.

  26. nigerian scam says:

    It’s in the same tone as the Nigerian email scams…

  27. Dez says:

    EMBARRASSING.

  28. Qeghdin Sew says:

    Kemm qegħdin sew jaħasra.

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