Quote:
Originally posted by ltl/fb
I use it to cover my ass because I'm never sure whether or not the corporate/business people have gone and changed everything and haven't bothered to tell me. As in, "It's my understanding that this is an asset deal, so we need to [benefits stuff]." That gives the other side the opportunity to say "No, we heard they decided to make it a stock deal last night" or whatever.
If an actual person seems to be saying something different from what they had said before, the I say "I had thought you wanted XYZ" or whatever. The "it is my understanding" indicates that my facts are coming from another source.
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I get your point, but in most contexts "Its my understanding" is almost always unecessary and undercuts everything you say afterward. Its like opening up with "There's a good chance this is wasted breath, but here goes..." I use it in front of judges when I'mreally fucked, and it sometimes elicits a smirk from the clerk or the judge himself. Not a good thing.
Its also the hallmark opener for scared people. One guy in my office will never say shit without a qualifier. Its always, "Well, according to my review of the documents..." or "From what i've been able to gather..." I have to cross examine the s.o.b. to get a fucking answer. I have actually said "I don't want to know what you've gleaned from the file. I just want to know what exactly happened. What happened?"
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