GUIDELINES VS. RECOMMENDATONS: A DISTINCTION WORTH NOTING

A colleague in Germany, Dr. Albrecht Ulmer, called attention to the difference between “guidelines” and “recommendations.”

According to Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary:
Guideline: “a standard or principle by which to make a judgment or determine a policy”
Recommendation: “advice; counsel”

According to the New Shorter (4,000 pages!) Oxford Dictionary:
Guidelines: “directing or standardizing principle”
Recommendation: “counsel or advice”

In German the distinction is even clearer Cassell’s German-English Dictionary):
Richtlinie: “direction; rule; instruction”
Empfehlung: “recommendation; advice”

As someone generally extremely loose about semantic nuances, who has always viewed these two words as essentially synonymous, it seems the distinction noted by Dr. Ulmer is an important one, that should be kept in mind as one reads and/or promulgates opinions in the complex medical field of addiction treatment.