RE: Ambiguous words and Phrases

["Dori Green" <dgreen -at- associatedbrands -dot- com>]

V. Suresh wrote:

Isn't there a need to give more clarity to a customer than that?? What
do you say?

******************

I say rots o' ruck.

Those fluffy ambiguous letters are written very carefully, and on
purpose.

An example:  My health insurance company has just responded to letters
from my doctor and from me appealing their refusal to pay for
pre-exposure rabies shots for me (advisable because I'm working as a
volunteer to trap and neuter an entire colony of feral cats).  After
three months we finally got a letter back letting us know that they are
pleased to let us know....but at the end we still can't figure out if
they're saying they'll pay for the danged shots or not.  At $250 each
and three required, we would have preferred a straight answer but we
both know better than to hold our breath for one.  

I'm getting the shots and the doctor has agreed to take time payments if
the insurance company won't pay.

Sometimes we just have to do what we have to do.

If writing ambiguously on purpose is not prohibited in the STC's Code of
Ethics for Technical Writers, it should be.  If STC does not have a Code
of Ethics for Technical Writers, it should.

IMHO.  YMMV.

Dori Green

What do I know, I'm that crazy woman who thinks cats shouldn't be left
to starve and die of preventable diseases just because they grew up and
weren't cute any more.

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