[Lalwendë]

I have to say that such tiny differences in wording can, and do make an immense difference to the meaning of a text. In my work, much time is spent mulling over the meaning and context of words, to the extent that the writing of just one sentence in a document can necessitate a meeting and much heated discussion. This can be an utterly depressing thing to have to sit through, but I fully appreciate the importance of it. If I was to write that people are 'entitled' to something then it might mean hordes of people demanding that very entitlement, and thus costing the taxpayer x millions of pounds more than they should have paid.

To put the actual words being debated into this context, if I was to write: "the responsibilities of the Department do not include answering letters" then this would mean that any letter which is received can be sent straight back without a reply - and this would further mean less staff would be need to be employed as it was not in the Dept's remit. But if I was to write: "the responsibilities of the Department need not include answering letters" then this is nowhere near emphatic enough and any member of the public could argue that in fact the Dept ought to be answering those letters. I'm sure anyone who knows about Law will also appreciate this!

There is a saying where I work "You don't have to be a pedant to be a policy officer but it helps". I think this can also apply to writers, especially where they are attempting to express such complex concepts as perceptions of time and space.