Re: Proposed amends to <small> element

On Thu, 12 Feb 2009, Patrick H. Lauke wrote:
> Ian Hickson wrote:
> 
> > I looked up "caveats" on anseers.com and the first definition was:
> > 
> > # Warnings, often written to a potential buyer, to be careful; often #
> > offered as a way for the seller or broker to minimize liability for what #
> > otherwise might be a deceptive trade practice.
> 
> The first definition here is from the "business dictionary" part further down
> (are you being selective in your quoting?). The common definition above:
> 
> http://www.answers.com/caveat

I had first looked up the plural, not the singular.


> > ...which seems far more loaded that "disadvantages". In general though 
> > I think it's pretty safe to say that the small print is disadvantages; 
> > after all, most people would not hide the advantages in the small 
> > print.
> 
> Sorry, but that's a gross generalisation, unless are you basing this on 
> quantitative research you carried out on the content of small print used 
> around the world?

I haven't seen any small print which gives anything but a disadvantage, to 
be honest.


> Caveat: this metal fork should not be inserted into an electrical 
> socket...is that a disadvantage?
>
> A classic small print "this does not affect your statutory rights"...is 
> that a disadvantage? Did you want your statutory rights to be affected?

Both of those are just the company covering their liabilities, which isn't 
a "legal restriction", which is the only example the spec curretly 
mentions in the parenthetical.

I've tried to make the parenthetical cover more cases. However, in general 
we're never going to exhaustively cover all kinds of small print, which is 
why the actual definition is just "small print".

-- 
Ian Hickson               U+1047E                )\._.,--....,'``.    fL
http://ln.hixie.ch/       U+263A                /,   _.. \   _\  ;`._ ,.
Things that are impossible just take longer.   `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.'

Received on Thursday, 12 February 2009 02:50:57 UTC