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Subject:Re: Momentarily press and then release? From:"Michael West" <mbwest -at- bigpond -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 5 Dec 2000 23:07:39 +1100
>>> Archimede Ziviello asked:
Which is better?
Momentarily press and then release the start button to .....
Bump the start button (without starting engine) to.....
>>> Jacob Hammons answered:
Maybe you should reverse the sentence, to provide the user a clear understanding
of what you want them to do, such as:
Turn the engine momentarily without starting it by quickly pressing and
releasing the start button.
I can't agree with that advice.
Without any previous context, "turn
the engine" sounds like something
requiring (at a minimum) two hands
and a winch.
There are some problems with the
original, too.
"Momentarily" is a word whose meaning
varies from place to place. Sometimes it
means "in a moment from now" and
sometimes it means "for only a moment".
"Bump" is not very descriptive. I don't think
of "bumping" as something necessarily
done with the hand -- though that seems
to be the intended sense.
The fact is, I'm not sure what you are
trying to say. The answer to the question
"which is better" would have to be "it depends".
It depends on what you mean.
Perhaps you only need to quantify the "quickly"
in "quickly press and release the Start button".
Then we can know exactly what action you are
prescribing. Otherwise, we are guessing.
--
Michael West
Melbourne, Australia
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