Modern American English: "Please advise that..."
 

Consider this paragraph from my boss, a native speaker of American English (names blanked):
Going straight with the definitions, "Please advise that" is active voice, and in the sentence, the 'subject' is implied to be X, but the 'object' or 'target' (who this advisory is directed to) is not even implied. Thus the sentence is logically invalid, let alone its grammatical syntax (to be frank, the finer points of theoretical English grammar is not my strength).
Thus, I thought, based on the context, that she meant to say:
At least it'll seem logical considering the content of the rest of the paragraph.
My boss, however, said that this is modern American English for (that is, she meant to say):
She said that "whether" is too "troublesome"...
------------
I must admit. I think my English is pretty good, near or at native level, and had it verified by getting a 8 in IELTS (of course, tests are not too representative, but one has to start somewhere, and I never had any trouble talking to English-speakers).

But using "that" as a substitute for "whether" is a new one on me.

Of course, the boss is always right, language evolves in strange ways, and searching on the Internet, Google did reveal 7,200 hits with "please advise that" so at least it isn't completely unused, but this seems to go against the normal usages of "that" so much that it is hard to believe.

So I'm curious to know what's the "status" of this expression in American English.

Is it grammatically proper?

Or is it improper but common, even in formal situations? Sometimes common usage is more important than being true to theoretical grammar...

Or is it suitable only for colloquial situations, or uncommon but not unknown - or just a full blown error?

Just for personal knowledge. Thanks in advance.

You are right, she is just lazy.

Your boss is using words in a very strange way.. somewhat inappropriately!

"advise" is the verb form of "advice"
advise (verb) means 'to offer advice to or counsel'; advice (noun) is an opinion about what could or should be done about a situation or problem.

The initial question here requires a yes or no response.. not "advice".
It would seem that there would be less confusion if your boss simply said
"Please inform me if <name> has already sent the chair."

The following two sentences seem to be shipping instructions.. after reading them ,although I believe I understand the basic intent, I would swear that they are written by a non native english speaker.

"Please have your warehouse ship the chair in the container with nothing heavy on top of it."


Basically if there is confusion about the meaning/intent of a sentence or paragraph, it is most likely written incorrectly.
However, it is possible to write a sentence or paragraph grammatically incorrect yet still have its meaning/intent very clear and precise.
In my opinion the meaning/intent is more important than the grammar.
A good "rule of thumb" is to write the way you would speak.

she is an idiot who tries to sound intelligent through the use of words she does not understand.

you see a lot of that.

:O:

Hell thats status quo around here.

"Please advise me as to whether <name> has already sent.."

That's how I'd say it, at least.

Or in the simplest form "Can you tell me if <name> has already sent..".

Dear <X>
Please advise that <Name> has already sent <my> chair to <you>. Kindly ensure to load the chair last, and do not stack with heavy cartons. We appreciate that you will instruct your warehouse colleague to include the chair in the container and handle it with care. Kindly confirm"

American english translation...

Say Man!!!

Be lettin' me know that <Nickname> done already sent my chair to yo ass. Make damn sure you load that sucka last, and dont be all puttin sh*t on top of it cause all thats gonna do is get it all f*cked up... it'll be sweet if you would be tellin your peeps to be puttin that sweet cushy chair all up in the big ass box and dont be all throwin it around and sh*t... peace out! holla!

:rock::rotfl::rotfl:

Your chair has arrived.

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/6035/n437brokenchair.jpg

:haha:

I've been working there for awhile now, and such simple forms are disliked (not formal enough, perhaps?) so much I hadn't used them for a long time...

"Please inform me as to whether..."
Seams the most correctfull usages of words to me.

:doh: