Many legal documents use "may" to say you must. That's why i hate legalese...

pixl97 · 2026-03-06T00:48:35 1772758115

Hmm, that's annoying, I'd take may as "CAN"

zdragnar · 2026-03-06T01:36:49 1772761009

"may only" and "may not", however, are unambiguously hard limits, which makes things even more confusing.

Throaway8797 · 2026-03-06T02:36:44 1772764604

"may only" means your pleasure is limited only to what options the agreement allows, which is a polite way of saying can not.

dolebirchwood · 2026-03-06T01:41:54 1772761314

I don't know what terrible lawyers were hired to draft these "many" documents, but please share some examples.

LoganDark · 2026-03-06T04:15:46 1772770546

Legal documents use "may" to allow for something. Usually it only needs to be allowed so that it can happen. So I read terms of service and privacy policies like all "may" is "will". "Your data may (will) be shared with (sold to) one or more of (all of) our data processing partners. You may (will) be asked (demanded) to provide identity verification, which may (will) include (but is not limited to) [everything on your passport]." And so on.