"The purpose of this document is to describe..."

Saying "the purpose of" is hedging, that is,we're going to try to describe something but we won't guarantee we'll be successful.

And far from being a writing tic it represents what's in the person's head, they lack confidence in the result.

Get a lot of that at work:
Me: "Can you give me a date"
Them: "Well, we can't promise anything sometimes things don't go as planned"
Me: "Jeez, I've only been doing this for 30 years, yes, of course things can go wrong (rolls eyes) can you give me a reasonable date"?

[Post edited by `lag at 10/13/2017 1:57PM]

In response to this post by Brown Water

Posted: 10/13/2017 at 1:52PM

"I approve with the same conditionality and awareness of the risks -- Brown Water 10/13/2017 12:56PM

"The purpose of this document is to describe..." -- `lag 10/13/2017 1:52PM

If you don't understand the reluctance in giving you a completion date -- Tafkam Hokie 10/13/2017 7:51PM

It's always the engineers who don't want to promise -- HokieAl 10/13/2017 2:08PM

That's actually kind of true because that's the way they/we think... -- `lag 10/13/2017 7:01PM

This is true. You need someone with people skills... -- Freddyburg Hokie 10/13/2017 3:03PM

You work with some brilliant folks... -- Stork 10/13/2017 1:51PM

That cracks me up ** -- Brown Water 10/13/2017 1:55PM

I spent 10 minutes just laughing at all the Stooges GIFs. This one is quite -- Stork 10/13/2017 1:57PM

Dude, be happy you have the "I approve" -- HokieAl 10/13/2017 1:31PM

This is why I hate writing with a large group ** -- hokeyhokie 10/13/2017 1:22PM

Your office needs higher walls ... and people who aren't as high. ** -- vt90 10/13/2017 1:03PM

Huh????? ** -- DonHo-kieHi 10/13/2017 12:58PM

"The purpose of this document is to describe..."

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