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Subject:Express permission From:KnoxML1 <KnoxML1 -at- TEOMAIL -dot- JHUAPL -dot- EDU> Date:Fri, 9 Dec 1994 13:45:21 EST
Arlen writes:
>(BTW, in case you haven't guessed, I think the word is "express" rather than
>"expresed," and that...
Bill writes:
>Arlen, you're wrong.... If you look again, Arlen, you'll see that the
>official legal statement is gramatically correct, based on when the consent
>is given by the author.
>As you remember, Arlen, we use the past tense (like -ED at the and of words)
>to express things that happened in the past. (No pun intended).
No, Bill, YOU are wrong. Look up the word "express." As it should have been
used here, and as correctly used in legal statements about permissions, it
means "directly, firmly, and explicitly stated" (Webster's 10th Collegiate,
first meaning). "Express consent" is used in legal statements to distinguish
from another type of consent, IMPLIED consent. There for, the phrase "express
written consent" means "clearly spelled out and unambiguous written consent,
rather than vague or implied written consent. The verb "to express" is not
appropriate here (after all, if it's written, it's already expressed), and so
how the past tense is formed is irrelevant.
Margaret Knox, technial writer/editor
margaret_knox -at- jhuapl -dot- edu
