Re: Pet Peeves

[Amy Gale <amyg -at- grammatech -dot- com>]

Geoff Lane wrote:

>It's bad enough that the PC bunch want
>to ban master and slave cylinders or drives, and ban male and female
>mating components - even though these have been industry standard
>terms for ages - <fe>but it seems that they've run out of targets and
>are now making things up!</fe>
>

I find "male" and "female"...not offensive, I guess, but definitely kind 
of tacky - industry standard or not.  I don't think they color my 
opinion of the product/documentation in question, but they do frequently 
trigger an eyeroll at the horny geekboys [*] who thought it was good 
terminology in the first place.

The Microsoft Manual of Style says not to use them and provides 
substitutes, which I don't remember offhand.  I suppose I'd use those 
substitutes if I documented hardware, which I don't.

Amy

[*] I'm not politically correct either

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or 
printed documentation. Features include single source authoring, team authoring,
Web-based technology, and PDF output. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

Now shipping: Help &amp; Manual 4 with RoboHelp(r) import! New editor,
full Unicode support. Create help files, web-based help and PDF in up
to 106 languages with Help &amp; Manual: http://www.helpandmanual.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.