Hi All,
Please see below sentence. I want to write that in the past, if we receive a name change request, we didn’t change it. We deleted the old name and created a new one.
We have always done it that way. Can I say that it was a habit from us?
If so, is the part marked in bold OK?
-Although, it should be possible to change the name of a user account/mailbox the practice has shown that removing the old and creating a new personal document is the way we are always used to follow.
Hi Attila,
Here’s my suggestion:
Although it is possible to change the name of a user account, common practice has shown that the account was more likely deleted and a new one created. This was our line of conduct.
Hi Atilla
Here is another option:
-Although it is possible to change the name of a user account, it has always been our practice to delete the old account and create a new one.
No, that doesn’t work. You can use “it has always been our practice (to delete…”), or you could say “it is our practice (to delete…)”, or you could say “we customarily (delete…)”, for example.
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I’d front the “habit” part.
It has (always) been our habit to delete the old account and create a new one, even though (we know) it is possible to change the name of a user account.
Our habit has (always) been to delete the old account and create a new one, even though (we know) it is possible to change the name of a user account.
We have always had the habit of deleting the old account and creating a new one, even though (we know) it is possible to change the name of a user account.
“Habit” might have pejorative (negative) implications, in this context.
So if your intention is not negative, I would use “practice” (or “custom”), rather than “habit”.
MrP
Can’t you find something pejorative in “practice”? LOL! This gets better by the minute.
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I agree with you, MrP. And it seems Ralf must have had the same sort of thing in mind seeing as he also eliminated the word “habit”.
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At least you’re all 3 in the habit of following in each others footsteps. Normally, it’s MrP who warms those steps for you, but maybe he’s getting a bit slow on his feet these days. :lol:
The examples in Merriam-Webster are indicative:
habit implies a doing unconsciously and often compulsively .
practice suggests an act or method followed with regularity and usually through choice .
custom applies to a practice or usage so steadily associated with an individual or group as to have almost the force of unwritten law .
MrP
[i]I used to swim twice a week, but I seem to have got out of (= ended) the habit recently.
Have you ever noticed how some people have the habit of being charming and interesting persons? [/i]
The philosophy is to develop the habit of listening to good music.
Selective searching to suit your needs won’t get you anywhere, MrP:
NOUN: 1a. A recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition. b. An established disposition of the mind or character. 2. Customary manner or practice: a person of ascetic habits. 3. An addiction, especially to a narcotic drug. 4. Physical constitution. 5. Characteristic appearance, form, or manner of growth, especially of a plant or crystal. 6a. A distinctive dress or costume, especially of a religious order. b. A riding habit.
Has MrP read this?
In this context, ‘habit’ is not the word you’re looking for. Accept sound advice from your ‘Shepard’.
Tell us how the writer feels about the (past) habit, will you?
It’s very simple. If the writer admits that the past or present action was/is not the right action and he/she also indicates that the change to another action would be/is a better one, there’s nothing wrong with the word “habit” in his statement.
If, on the other hand, the writer wants to justify and support the past or present action and feels a change to another action would not necessarily be/is a better one, “habit” might not be the right word for his statement, but it could be.
e.g.
We were/are in the habit of doing X, but now we (more appropriately) do/will do Y.
We were/are in the habit of doing X and have now realised that.
We were/are in the habit of doing X and were/are quite happy with that.
We were/are in the habit of doing X and feel unwilling/see no need to change.
We were/are in the habit of doing X and now regret that.
So, we need to know whether the speaker sees the habit as something he can’t/is unwilling to break (possibly negative) or that he sees it in a positive light.
Hi Attila,
Apart from the particular use of words that has been discussed, I’d like to come back to the language of what you originally wrote. It would have to be a habit of ours and we always used to follow or we are always used to following.
Alan
What’s the difference in meaning between we are always used to following and we are used to following, IYO, Alan? The “always” seems redundant.