Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
Customers are the judge of business survival.
English answer:
customers are the arbiters of business survival
Added to glossary by
Peter Linton (X)
Aug 6, 2006 15:28
17 yrs ago
English term
anastasia t (X)
Customers are the judge of business survival.
English
Bus/Financial
Management
Is this sentence correct?
Responses
| 3 | customers are the arbiters of business survival |
Peter Linton (X)
|
| 4 +9 | yes |
Michael Powers (PhD)
|
| 4 +4 | See sentence below |
Suzan Hamer
|
| 4 | the definer |
ErichEko ⟹⭐
|
Responses
3 days 2 hrs
Selected
customers are the arbiters of business survival
... is how I would put it. In this context, I think "judge" is the wrong word.
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks for your resounding no."
+4
10 mins
Suzan Hamer
Netherlands
Netherlands
Native in English
&
English
Works in field
Netherlands
Fussy editing for fussy people.
Native in: English (Variant: US)
Works in: English, Dutch to English
See sentence below
I would say something like "Customers determine whether a business survives." Or "Business survival depends on customers." Or "The survival of a business depends on its customers." Or . . . depends on customer satisfaction." Or "Satisfied customers keep a business in business." (A little too much of a pun, perhaps)
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Note added at 12 mins (2006-08-06 15:41:20 GMT)
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If your question is whether "judge" or "decide" is better, of those two choices, I would go with "decide." However, I do think there are better choices, as I've mentioned above.
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Note added at 12 mins (2006-08-06 15:41:20 GMT)
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If your question is whether "judge" or "decide" is better, of those two choices, I would go with "decide." However, I do think there are better choices, as I've mentioned above.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Peter Shortall
: "Judge of... survival" somehow seems slightly odd to me, but it's hard to explain why... I'd prefer one of your first three ideas
1 hr
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Thanks, Peter. "Judge of ...survival" seems more than slightly odd to me, too.
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| agree |
NancyLynn
: I vote for #3 and #5 :-)
5 hrs
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Thanks, Nancy. Funny how it's so easy to supply alternatives for other people, when I'm stuck on some odd sounding sentences in a text I'm currently working on (make that SHOULD be working on).
|
|
| agree |
conejo
1 day 3 hrs
|
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Thank you, conejo.
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| agree |
Uma Hariharan
2 days 13 hrs
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Thanks to you, too, Uma.
|
+9
0 min
Michael Powers (PhD)
United States
United States
Native in English
&
English
Works in field
United States
US Court Cert. 1980 Ph.D. 1981
Native in: English
Works in: Spanish to English, Portuguese to English, English to Spanish, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
yes
Mike :)
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Note added at 1 min (2006-08-06 15:30:47 GMT)
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Even though "customers" is plural, it is understood collectively as a group, and thus the use of "the judge" in singular is all right.
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Note added at 3 mins (2006-08-06 15:32:15 GMT)
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Note in the following example with "firemen."
Firemen are the safety net for unexpected fires.
In this case we do not use "safety nets" for unexpected first. Collectively they make up the safety net.
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Note added at 14 mins (2006-08-06 15:43:12 GMT)
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Another option now that I understand what you means is:
Customers are the ultimate judges of whether or not a business survives.
Business survival is a decision made by customers.
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Note added at 26 mins (2006-08-06 15:55:24 GMT)
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You can use "judge" or "decide" or a derivation of the same. It is up to you.
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Note added at 1 min (2006-08-06 15:30:47 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Even though "customers" is plural, it is understood collectively as a group, and thus the use of "the judge" in singular is all right.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 mins (2006-08-06 15:32:15 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Note in the following example with "firemen."
Firemen are the safety net for unexpected fires.
In this case we do not use "safety nets" for unexpected first. Collectively they make up the safety net.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 14 mins (2006-08-06 15:43:12 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Another option now that I understand what you means is:
Customers are the ultimate judges of whether or not a business survives.
Business survival is a decision made by customers.
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Note added at 26 mins (2006-08-06 15:55:24 GMT)
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You can use "judge" or "decide" or a derivation of the same. It is up to you.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
jarry (X)
43 mins
|
|
Thank you, Jarry - Mike :)
|
|
| agree |
Asghar Bhatti
49 mins
|
|
Thank you, Asghar - Mike :)
|
|
| agree |
vanesa medina
49 mins
|
|
Thank you, paomedina - Mike :)
|
|
| agree |
Will Matter
1 hr
|
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Thank you, willmatter - Mike :)
|
|
| agree |
Jonathan MacKerron
: odd wording but surely acceptable
3 hrs
|
| agree |
stefania da prato
4 hrs
|
| neutral |
juvera
: I would like to ask: how do you judge survival? May be the worthiness of survival? But this sentence of yours is just right: Business survival is a decision made by customers.
5 hrs
|
| agree |
conejo
1 day 3 hrs
|
| agree |
Alfa Trans (X)
2 days 3 hrs
|
| agree |
Ana L Fazio-Kroll
2 days 10 hrs
|
11 hrs
ErichEko ⟹⭐
Indonesia
Indonesia
Specializes in field
Indonesia
Legal, Marketing, Biz, Software, Games
Native in: Indonesian (Variant: Standard-Indonesia) 
Works in: English to Indonesian, Indonesian to English
Related KudoZ points
:
15
the definer
"Customers are the definer of business survival" sounds good to me. It serves two things: jargonism (which are pretty common in *business* texts) and correct meaning.
If you want a simple one, use "Customer defines the survival of a business." Survival here -- in my view -- is not strictly defined as dead or alive, but rather in a spectrum, e.g., 'take off well', 'stay at runway', 'fly awkwardly', or 'crashed for good' :-)
If you want a simple one, use "Customer defines the survival of a business." Survival here -- in my view -- is not strictly defined as dead or alive, but rather in a spectrum, e.g., 'take off well', 'stay at runway', 'fly awkwardly', or 'crashed for good' :-)
Discussion