...for this elsewhere was reading Report inappropriate image " the title to the report page still uses that wording). I pinged Dennis G. Jerz, associate professor of English at Seton Hill University and blogger at the Literacy Weblog, about his take on this:

My dean once suggested that, when introducing a postmodern literary work to students who arent used to such things, I was setting myself up for failure by calling the work difficult or challenging, and instead suggested quirky or just significant. I have another colleague whos very good at listening to the terms used by people in other disciplines, and echoing those terms back in her conversation with them (so that, when speaking about the main idea of a scientists paper, she uses the word hypothesis, or when speaking about the main idea of an art installation, she refers to concept).

I think that if Google phrased it as the more natural-sounding Report a problem, or Report a violation of privacy, that could be taken as an admission of wrongdoing. By phrasing it so that the user seems merely to be sharing a personal feeling that something is uncomfortable, Google can assume the moral high ground. Oh, so youre concerned about it, are you? There, there... tell us about it, and well make it all better..

I had a boss who was a lawyer... he once asked me not to send out a press release with somebody saying We are sorry... He told me that expressing sorrow implies taking responsibility for a bad thing, while writing We regret... is merely expressing sympathy.

So I imagine that Googles lawyers wanted to come up with language that would appeal to people with real worries, but not give any new ammunition to anyone who thinks Google is invading their privacy. The phrasing does strike me as rather patronizing.

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