The Daily Mail Pervades The World!

[FredPuli43]

Went to my solicitors yesterday to check a conveyancing document. The Daily Mail reaches places you'd never imagine. The deed contained the words " the extra payment not to be made if the development could be non-commercial". I asked the young draftswoman, "Do you read the Daily Mail? 'Could be'' is in their house style, as in "water could be a a cause of cancer", It covers all possibilities and none; anything could be non-commercial (or cancerous), though no judge would think so for himself, he might agree somebody might or it's theoretically or very, very, remotely so and he'd have to say that it 'could be', so the phrase is of no practical use.She changed 'could be' to 'is'.

Given that unhappy precedent, let's have a competition to write our posts in the Daily Mail style. Any entries?

[Barmaid]

HORROR! As client discovers £900 per hour lawyer can read........

[Sqad]

Fred.......I have no idea what you are talking about....didn't understand one word....sorry.

[Zacs-Master]

Me neither. especially 'though no judge would think so for himself, he might agree somebody might or it's theoretically or very, very, remotely so'

[Sqad]

Zac....you have done well, I am still stuck on:

\\\\ I asked the young draftswoman, "Do you read the Daily Mail? 'Could be'' is in their house style, as in "water could be a a cause of cancer", It covers all possibilities and none; anything could be non-commercial (or cancerous), though no judge would think so for himself\\\

What's the Daily Mail got to do with the price of eggs?

[Zacs-Master]

I think I can help you out there sqad, Fred is saying that the DM uses 'could be' in its reporting which is non specific. After that.......anybodys guess.

[Sqad]

Zac....LOL.....thanks.

[Zacs-Master]

As for my Daily mail headline:
FredPuli43 could be understood on Mars scientists say.

[Sqad]

Zac...LOL

[jno]

Shock as experts say FredPuli might be on to something

[Zacs-Master]

don't you mean 'could be' onto something?

[humbersloop]

scantily clad minor tv celebrity reveals curves/legs/abs/boobs on the red carpet at pointless awards gala

[FredPuli43]

God,I hope not, BM ! £900 an hour, I mean. That's why I check everything before they let it out of the office. I do resent paying them for me to proof read and correct their efforts though. That one is so elementary an error. I did say that it was easy for them; all they have to do, nearly 100 per cent of the time, is take a precedent off their in-house computer and fill in the names. They agreed that that was essentially true.

Their precedent writer/ computer, had no knowledge of the the law of interpretation either; it had such gems as 'reference to male shall be taken as including the female' but,amusingly, without adding 'unless the context otherwise requires'. Unnecessarily included but, as put, defective; to a purist anyway; but I let that pass, though I did comment.

The trouble is that , with such things as overage clauses [I used 'extra payment' to make the post comprehensible], they are often going 'off piste' to deal with the peculiar circumstances of the individual case,as here, and having to think for themselves. This thought does not include working out the possible dangers of the words they use. It does to us, but we spend, or have spent, our whole lives sorting out what happens when something goes wrong and we can see trouble coming from a long way off.

[Psybbo]

Well regarded physician could be coming out of retirement to fund his lavish life style?

[FredPuli43]

Humbersloop, just add 'could she be pregnant?' and you are there!

[jno]

could be, Zac

And perhaps "boffins" would be better than "experts".