Yes, of course I know about ISO/IEC Directives Part 2 and CEN/CENELEC IRs Part 3, but in 2005 when I wrote the document these rules were not widely known (and they still aren't known widely enough). What 'makes a difference in a legal sense' is a very big subject indeed. How 'creative' is your lawyer? Is that 'black' or 'very dark white'?

I think it would be very difficult to get ambiguous language accepted by National Committees, the Chairman and Secretary of the committee and the Central Office editors.

Best wishes
John Woodgate OOO-Own Opinions Only
J M Woodgate and Associates www.woodjohn.uk
Rayleigh, Essex UK

On 2019-08-23 12:25, Gert Gremmen wrote:

Hi John,

Great many thank's ;<)

I will study them and use them for the benefit of standardization.

You must be aware of Internal Regulations 3 (CENELEC) that included some of your "must", "shall" and similar constructions to use and not use.

Thank you for noticing my own euro-english (must be inspired by your example); what i would like to know is if such "errors" create any difference in a legal sense.

Many of the to-be-cited-in-the-official-journal harmoni(z)(s)ed standards fail because of (intentional?) ambiguous language, plainly confusing constructions and sometimes even the -opposite of what is meant- is said, though the meaning is clear when read in context (contextual comprehensible ?) Legally some (euro english) constructions create problems.

So if anymore has more examples, let them come to this list !

Thanks, list members.

Gert


On 23-8-2019 11:26, John Woodgate wrote:

Hello, Gert. In my opinion, there is no 'factually wrong' for British English. We don't have an 'Academy' as in France.  The only thing you can say about 'I were going to work' is that 'were' is 'contrary to usage', which is 'was'. Of course, some wordings may be more 'contrary to usage' than others.

You own message has an example of Euro-English - 'within the next years'. I would say 'within the next few years'. There is no sensible grammatical reason for including 'few', it's just 'what people say'.

I actually wrote a document on this subject many years ago, although it was not widely circulated. I have attached it.

Best wishes
John Woodgate OOO-Own Opinions Only
J M Woodgate and Associateswww.woodjohn.uk
Rayleigh, Essex UK
On 2019-08-23 09:16, Gert Gremmen wrote:

Hi John (et al),

I noticed with quite interest your statement on the Euro-English; do you think that is where it shall go within the next years, eventually ?

I'd appreciate if you would provide us with other (many please) examples of -factually wrong- but common phrases as found in EU language, be it legal text or standards text.

As a not-native speaker these alterations of the "offcial British Enlish" go noticed for me (but for some), and i think it is important  to have a list of these available. In my current job at the EU i encounter all kind of non-native speaker created English language constructions, not always fully in error, and if one wants can understood as meant, but do create confusions in some cases.

So please, all UK and of course all US native speakers, use your Friday spare time and let us all know what you have found, if possible with some explanation, if not evident.

I will create a list and re-publish for the use of all.....

Thanks

Gert Gremmen



On 23-8-2019 9:40, John Woodgate wrote:

Two points:

  *  EN standards are not 'European Norms', which were/are a very
    old set of standards to do with the Coal and Steel Community, a
    forerunner of the EU. ENs are 'European Standards'.

  * Nominally, 'British English' is used, but since no-one knows
    exactly what that is, few people bother. There is also
    'Euro-English', which has a few word-forms that are not used by
    British English native speakers (e.g. 'within the next days',
    different meanings of 'respectively' and 'eventually').

Best wishes
John Woodgate OOO-Own Opinions Only
J M Woodgate and Associateswww.woodjohn.uk
Rayleigh, Essex UK

--
Independent Expert on CE marking
Harmonised Standards (HAS-) Consultant @ European Commission for RED and EMC
EMC Consultant
Electrical Safety Consultant

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