So a student asking about tuition fees is told about the "tripartite funding arrangement" rather than a three-way split.
If the deal goes through, because this is what's known as a "scheme of arrangement" rather than a standard takeover offer, it's binding on all shareholders, even if they didn't vote for it.
Worse, some families in places with different cultural norms and legal systems relinquish their kids believing that it is a temporary guardianship arrangement, rather than an irrevocable severance of family ties.
Decisions will be made on the basis of the substance of the arrangement, rather than on its denomination as an international agreement, a memorandum of understanding, exchange of notes, exchange of letters, technical arrangement, protocol, note verbale, aide-memoire, agreed minute, or any other name.
Even Wodehouse's 61-year marriage to Ethel Wayman, a twice-widowed former chorus girl (Malcolm Muggeridge called her a "mixture of Mistress Quickly and Florence Nightingale with a touch of Lady Macbeth thrown in"), seems to have been a fond and companionable arrangement rather than a profound emotional attachment.
Yes, Isabella, the eldest of a combined step-family of 21 children, spent some of her adolescence living in the grandstand on Epsom race-course, but it was by no means unusual for large families of this period to disperse their offspring among sundry relatives and business premises, and it was a temporary arrangement, rather than the fairytale-like banishment it becomes in some accounts.
Technical IT skills were adopted into the construction project through personal relationships and arrangements rather than formal processes.
Willox said the clause "aims at facilitating discussion between employers and employees about flexible work arrangements rather than imposing outcomes upon employers".
One approach, he said, might be more emphasis on the American Zipcar rental model of car-sharing, or other shared-ownership arrangements, rather than sales to individuals.
Farm finances should be improved by emphasizing profitability and savings and encouraging various product credit interlinkage arrangements, rather than designing large programs for full-scale revamping or development of rural credit systems.
While the directors said they were able to confirm the majority of Sino-Forest's forest holdings, they were unable to value them and noted that most of them relied on informal arrangements rather than legal ownership.
