RE: "Turn on the radio?"

Subject: RE: "Turn on the radio?"
From: Scott Wahl <wahl_scott -at- yahoo -dot- ca>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 10:36:43 -0800 (PST)

I've always been taught the following:

When you use phrasal (two-word) verbs like "turn on"
you should keep the two words together for these
reasons:

(1) It improves comprehension, especially for readers
for whom English is a second language.
(2) It simplifies translation.

The more interesting question is whether you should
use phrasal verbs at all.

An article in the last issue of _Technical
communication_ that looked at this issue. The move to
plain language typically means replacing Latin-derived
words with more common synonyms. Often, this means
using phrasal (two-word) verbs like "turn on". Yet
these phrasal verbs may actually be more difficult to
understsand for readers whose first language is not
English.

The article is "Plain English? A Study of Plain
English Vocabulary and International Audiences" by
Emily A. Thrush. _Technical communication_. August
2001, Vol. 48, No. 3.

Scott

--
Scott Wahl
Senior Technical Writer
Research in Motion

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Find a job, post your resume.
http://careers.yahoo.com

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Be a published author! iUniverse gives you: a high-quality paperback, a
custom cover design, and distribution to 25,00 retailers. Join our almost
10,000 published authors today. http://www.iuniverse.com/media/techwr

Have you looked at the new content on TECHWR-L lately?
See http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ and check it out.

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.


References:
RE: "Turn on the radio?": From: Wade Courtney

Previous by Author: RE: (Slight) HUMOUR: Banned Words
Next by Author: Re: Creating API documentation
Previous by Thread: RE: "Turn on the radio?"
Next by Thread: RE: "Turn on the radio?"


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads