When does terseness= rudeness (was whenever or as)

["David Downing" <DavidDowning -at- users -dot- com>]

<<Without knowing more, I would go with either one.  However,
personally,
"whenever required" seems to give a more friendly tone.>>

Well, I was about to recommend "as" on the grounds that you should never
use a 3-syllable word where a 1-syllable word would do, when I read the
above -- and it got me thinking about a question that has long bothered
me.  I have, in the past, made the mistake of equating excessive
chattiness with user-friendliness,  However, I think you can go too far
the other way.  In the interest of verbal economy, you can come off
sounding rude and hostile.  (I had a friend back in college who used to
get on my case for being too verbose when writing notes on peoples'
message boards.  I'm forced to agree that some of those notes could have
been a bit tighter, but I still think some of her notes sounded rude and
hostile.)  Where do others stand on this issue.





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