The BUSKLAW Newsletter

Some folks may believe that writing well and Christmas have little in common, but I dispelled that notion two years ago in  my post about writing well on Christmas . And I have uncovered additional evidence for this holiday season.  I wasn't looking for that evidence, but it popped up in a sales contract that I was reading. The line was something like, "If any Good is nonconforming...." Wait a second. How can the "Good" be non-conforming? Wouldn't that fall to the province of the "Bad"? Then it hit me: the drafter was using "Good" as the singular of "Goods," a term of art defined in the Uniform Commercial Code ("UCC"), the statute regulating the sale of Goods adopted by almost every State.  But not "Good." The UCC doesn't use that word. The reason is simple. Would you walk into your local dry cleaners and ask "Is my pant ready?" You would likely get a quizzical expression from the clerk who mi

I just read a public letter from the senior management of a Michigan-based advocacy group to our esteemed Michigan governor that includes this gem of a sentence: "Despite claims and assurances of those representing the Health Care Plans, experiences in other states, with recent, very small minor exceptions, not involve persons with developmental services, except for State Plan, medical services." Really? This is bureaucratese (if not lousy writing) at its finest! Do you figure our governor will have any idea of what this sentence means? 40 lashes with a wet noodle for the group that sent this out. You should know better. (And I may contact you to offer my services as an editor - at no charge - to prevent this from ever happening again!!)