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Joined: Jun 2002
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I think we should take a meeting about this...



formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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we should take a meeting

Indeed. Shall we take lunch?


#84272 10/23/02 10:16 AM
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dxb Offline
Pooh-Bah
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I suspect that, particularly for a committee member or chairman, to say "The committee has taken the decision to cancel the programme" makes it feel less of a personal responsibility than "The committee has made the decision...". The first statement implies that the committee has chosen one of several options presented to it but the second indicates that the idea was all theirs!



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veteran
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"take a decision" is the way every native speaker of English outside North America says it.

Another nay-sayer here, T.

"They took the view that.." perhaps, but "They made the decision that.."

Although I think "They decided that..." would be a far more common construction.

A few more examples of (ab)use would be useful, JT (welcome, btw ). Can see how they sound.



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enthusiast
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I'm afraid I hear it a lot (on the radio, by individual speakers, on the news, in meetings - all over) - and I've always disliked it - it just sounds funny/odd/WRONG to me. Interesting to note that, in French, the term is prendre une decision (literally translated as - ta da - to take a decision). But I don't believe that English-speaking takers of decisions are hearkening back to the French.


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addict
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Indeed. Shall we take lunch?

I'd rather take tea




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Carpal Tunnel
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I gotta take a crap and think about this for a while.


#84277 10/25/02 08:15 AM
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Pooh-Bah
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I agree with dxb - it is a phrase that I come across fairly frequently, but almost always in the context of corporate, rather than individual, decisions. And I think his analysis is good, too, as to the reason for its use.

Unfortunately, I do occasionally begin to hear it in individual situations, but.


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Carpal Tunnel
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Moi aussi. "Take" is corporate speak for "Make". And it's used in US English as much as in UK English; in fact I would suggest it's more common in US boardrooms than British. In Zild, it could be either/or, or both. All for the same decision.



The idiot also known as Capfka ...
#84279 10/31/02 01:02 AM
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Hey, Musick. You been in there a long time. You fall in?


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