Vitaly,
Actually it is the other way around. As a former bureaucrat, "must"
is definitely clearer. In the US government, when something is mandatory,
the term is "WILL" as in:
"the distance will be at least three meters" etc. (SEE MIL STD 461)
One of the reasons that that the european standards are so vague and
confusing is because they have been translated very badly. For example, the
phrase "Harmonized Standard" did not exist in the english language before
the european union came around.
A better translation would have been
"standardized specification." In english, "Harmonize" is something you only
do in music.
I was raised bilingual, and I have done a lot of translations. I
have found that one of the worst things a translator can do is to try to
translate one word at a time, like machine translations do. What comes out
may be "english" but it is often stilted and incomprehensible. Some words
just dont translate.
The Inuit ("eskimos") for example, have seven different words for "snow."
lou
At 12:27 PM 7/19/99 -0700, you wrote:
>
>I can't help making this innocuous comment. (English is not my major.)
>All I have to say is that Europeans are, as usually, more attached to
>purified English. Shall is stronger (more "dictatorial" or, if you want,
>directive) than must.
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: John Juhasz [SMTP:jjuh...@fiberoptions.com]
>> Sent: Monday, July 19, 1999 7:18 AM
>> To: emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org
>> Subject: RE: Product Safety Semantics
>>
>> Many thanks to those who responded to my query about the use/meanings of
>> the words 'shall' and 'must' in product safety standards.
>>
>> Must and shall appear to be interchangeable. UL1950 uses both (couldn't
>> make up there minds?), but 'must' appears a lot in the Annexes. EN60950
>> (IEC950) uses 'shall' consistently. From the responses I got, 'will' is
>> thrown in for good measure.
>>
>> Therefore, shall, must, and will mean 'mandatory'. 'Should' is a
>> recommendation.
>>
>> I must, shall, will remember this.
>>
>> John A. Juhasz
>> Product Qualification &
>> Compliance Engr.
>>
>> Fiber Options, Inc.
>> 80 Orville Dr. Suite 102
>> Bohemia, NY 11716 USA
>>
>> Tel: 516-567-8320 ext. 324
>> Fax: 516-567-8322
>>
>
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