Great Email Disclaimers

I get a lot of email. I get it from a lot of places. One of the things that gets on my goat about it is the Disclaimers attached to the end of the email. You know, the sort of thing that threatens dire effects on life and the universe if you are not the addressee – not that it matters whether you are or not because really, the email is not the opinion of the sending organisation anyway.

So, when I see silly ones, I think I’ll feature them here in the Hole.

I saw a silly one.

DISCLAIMER:
The information transmitted in this email contains confidential and privileged material and it is meant for the intended recipient only.If you are not the intended recipient of this email, please delete the same and inform the sender immediately.Any disclosure or further distribution of the email is strictly prohibited.The receipient is advised to scan the mail and any attachments for viruses before opening. The content of the message cannot be guaranteed to be secure or errorfree.

Leaving aside form and style, the last sentence which notes that “the content of the message cannot be guaranteed to be secure or errorfree” is really quite good as there is no word in the English language, “errorfree”. Indeed, the fact that in the disclaimer they misspell recipient after spelling it correctly ensures that every message coming from that particular organisation has an error in it ensuring that the disclaimer is always true.

Also, I always enjoy the line in disclaimers entreating me to scan the message and any attachments before opening them. Of course, the only way that you can see and read this worthy piece of advice is by opening the message.