Please do the needful

[Jog On]

I just had an email asking me to do this

[kandr]

I just had an email asking me to do this

There must a School in Bobistan that teaches English to the majority of IT bobs that is under the impression that is a valid use of English.

[Bunk]

There must a School in Bobistan that teaches English to the majority of IT bobs that is under the impression that is a valid use of English.

Indeed. I think their textbooks need an updation.

[sasguru]

Language is constantly evolving. There is no "right" or "wrong" only "currently accepted".
"Do the needful" seems to me a useful phrase that is really only our Indian cousins version of "Make it so".

[wobbegong]

I just had an email asking me to do this

Just ask them what exactly they mean.

BTW, it's not just Bobs that use this. It's become common 'trendy' parlance amongst 40-something middle managers.

[HairyArsedBloke]

Wouldn't Bob S say, "Be pleased to undertaking the needful doings"?

It is so hard to write like that.

[rd409]

I just had an email asking me to do this

So what's the problem? I would be more than happy to see the word "Please" in the statement. Most of the people now a days have forgotten the magic words.

[thunderlizard]

I'd rather get a "please do the needful" than a "please advise" any day.

[TimberWolf]

"Do the needful" is an expression, now archaic or used humorously except in South Asian English (Pakistani, Indian and Sri Lankan), which means "do that which is requisite or necessary". Although sometimes parodied as a staple of contemporary South Asian English, the expression was current in both British[1] and American English[2] well into the early 20th century.

The Oxford English Dictionary lists examples of usage from 1709 (Richard Steele in the Tatler), 1771 (Samuel Foote in Maid of Bath), 1821 (Maria Edgeworth in a letter), 1831 (Walter Scott in his journal), 1929 (I. Colvin in his Life of Dyer), and 1992 (Jeff Torrington in Swing Hammer Swing!), the last likely used humorously.[1]

Do the needful - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Has anyone ever found anything that isn't on Wiki?

[HairyArsedBloke]

Has anyone ever found anything that isn't on Wiki?

If you do then do the needful and make an entry to fill the gap.