The Humidity Affects Letters to the Boston Globe

[gnomi]

From the boston.com letter submission page:

To submit a letter to the editor electronically, send an e-mail to [the Globe's e-mail address] or fill out the form below. Either way, make sure to include your full name, address and a telephone number for confirmation purposes. Letters should be 200 words or less and are subject to condensation.

Me, I'd recast the sentence: Letters should be 200 words or fewer and might be condensed. While my ear is saying "and may be condensed," the tech writer in me is arguing that "may" could be construed as ambiguous ("and may be condensed" implies, possibly, "you are allowed to" and not the intended meaning of "this could possibly happen").

Comments

[china_shop]

I think "are subject to condensation" sounds like a desperate attempt to avoid the passive voice (as well as, yes, soggy). I'd tend to try a different verb altogether -- edit, abridge, or shorten, perhaps?

[ghilledhu.livejournal.com]

...so what you're saying is that the letters are subject to being damped down?

*runs*

[tober.livejournal.com]

I'd recast the end of that last sentence as "and are subject to editing for brevity."

[violetcheetah.livejournal.com]

"subject to brediting"?

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Well, some of the people who write to them are real drips...

[joecoustic.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm trying to figure out how the water/dampening would be done ;).