your esteemed university?
Chinese people love using phrases like “贵校”, "令堂", "鄙人不才" to sound polite and modest. My question is, if rendered into English, is it ok to keep the intended politeness and modesty by saying "your esteemed university", "your respected mother" and "my humble self"? Or shall we simply say "your university", "your mother" and "I"?

To be honest, "your esteemed university" sounds a bit weird to me. So please I am looking forward to some native speakers' opinions. Thanks a million.

Question

your esteemed university?
Chinese people love using phrases like “贵校”, "令堂", "鄙人不才" to sound polite and modest. My question is, if rendered into English, is it ok to keep the intended politeness and modesty by saying "your esteemed university", "your respected mother" and "my humble self"? Or shall we simply say "your university", "your mother" and "I"?

To be honest, "your esteemed university" sounds a bit weird to me. So please I am looking forward to some native speakers' opinions. Thanks a million.

Answer

If it is a formal letter to someone that deserves that kind of respect and the rest of the letter is sincere then it's ok. Otherwise superfluous words of that nature can sound sarcastic, or even taken as being condescending.

Answer

Thank you Naga for your detailed answer. I also prefer to drop all those adjectives actually. 
'My humble self' would probably sound inappropriately obsequious to a modern reader. -- I can't agree more.

Answer

The phrases you use sound rather old-fashioned in English. Using a phrase like 'your esteemed university' is more likely to be suited to a Victorian novel rather than a contemporary letter. The same goes for 'your respected mother'. 'My humble self' would probably sound inappropriately obsequious to a modern reader. In short, drop all those adjectives!

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