Kenny同志 Posted May 23, 2015 at 03:19 AM Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 at 03:19 AM I am just a bit curious. How would you say this when you deliver an address to a bunch of government officials? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymoose Posted May 23, 2015 at 04:14 AM Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 at 04:14 AM Usually one just says "Dear Ladies and Gentlemen". It would be very odd, in the UK at least, to open by saying "Dear Leaders". The thing is, that in theory, the leaders of democracies such as the UK, are the servants of the people. By addressing them as "Dear Leaders", it is bestowing unwarranted respect - in other words, putting them at a higher position than everyone else - even though the reality of the situation is like this in many places. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny同志 Posted May 23, 2015 at 05:06 AM Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 at 05:06 AM Thanks Anonymoose. I also find 'Dear leaders' rather odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oceancalligraphy Posted May 23, 2015 at 06:14 AM Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 at 06:14 AM Are the government officials all members of a certain group? "Dear members of <group name>" or "Dear <group name> members" also works. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
陳德聰 Posted May 23, 2015 at 06:17 AM Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 at 06:17 AM Does 尊敬的 translate as "dear"? I have heard and used openers like "esteemed members of the board" etc, and I think esteemed would fit nicely here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymoose Posted May 23, 2015 at 07:34 AM Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 at 07:34 AM 删了。 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny同志 Posted May 23, 2015 at 07:54 AM Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 at 07:54 AM Thanks very much everybody. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted May 23, 2015 at 11:43 AM Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 at 11:43 AM I've heard, and used, 'Minister Zhang, director Li, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen', just calling out the main leaders/main guests by title and name. Of course that only works if you have no more than 2-3 leaders you need to mention, and the 'distinguished guests' only works if they are in fact guests. As you already noticed, 'Dear leaders' doesn't work, because 1) 'Dear Leader' is rather North-Korean and 2) in English the leaders are not addressed as leaders. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny同志 Posted May 23, 2015 at 11:58 AM Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 at 11:58 AM That's a good idea. 謝謝領導. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yueni Posted May 23, 2015 at 05:06 PM Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 at 05:06 PM I've also used "distinguished guests" when interpreting 尊敬的各位领导. Honestly, the beginning section of a speech happens so often, and is so formulaic in terms of openers that you can just lift out an equally formulaic English opener and fit it in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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