Well, maybe not that plain

Full and honest disclosure of the facts does not always suit the business purpose of a communication.

Arnie Herz at Legal Insanity tells the story of his wife's late night shopping trip. When she ask the store manager for another checker because of the line up for the single cash register, "he looked at her and gruffly responded... that people should expect to wait when they shop so late at night."

The wife then pointed out that the store's sign says “we’re open late for your shopping convenience.”

Arnie suggests a rewrite for the sign:

"We're open until midnight, but we can't provide you with fast and efficient checkout or plentiful and affable employees after 9pm."