TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
If windows and dialog boxes appear, then, too, your friends appear as a
result of your calling them.
Not sure about your cause and effect argument. Click the button = cause.
Dialog box opens = effect.
Why don't I say appears? Because it seems magical. You captured my
thoughts exactly when you wrote, "Open the can of tuna. A cat appears."
Even if you don't have one, a cat appears. It's magic, see ....
Horses for courses.
Cheers.
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+sean -dot- brierley=ipc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+sean -dot- brierley=ipc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Sarah Bouchier
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 12:50 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: "Appears" vs. "will appear"
>Use appears in other sentences and perhaps you will have the desire to
>append, "as if by magic" or "out of nowhere."
'Open the can of tuna. A cat appears.'
I have now thought about this issue until my brain hurts. I think the
basic problem is that, unlike almost everything else in life, the
window/dialog box really /does/ just appear.
If you unwrap a bar of chocolate, the chocolate doesn't 'appear'; it has
been revealed by you opening it. If you shout for a friend to come and
help you they don't 'appear'; they have been summoned from where they
were by your shouting. It's all entirely predictable cause and effect.
If you click on a button in an application, however, you have no way of
predicting that a dialog window will turn up on your screen. It wasn't
hidden behind the button, it wasn't summoned from another place. It
appeared. Out of nowhere. As if by magic.
Why do we avoid 'appears'? Because we want our users to think of
computers as obeying the laws of cause and effect that everything else
does, as being stable and scientific and predictable. But however true
that might (or, in the case of some software, might not...) be under the
covers, from the point of view of the poor schmuck trying to use it the
dialog window does appear. Why not say so?
DISCLAIMER:
Important Notice *************************************************
This e-mail may contain information that is confidential, privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not an intended recipient of this e-mail, do not duplicate or redistribute it by any means. Please delete it and any attachments and notify the sender that you have received it in error. Unintended recipients are prohibited from taking action on the basis of information in this e-mail.E-mail messages may contain computer viruses or other defects, may not be accurately replicated on other systems, or may be intercepted, deleted or interfered with without the knowledge of the sender or the intended recipient. If you are not comfortable with the risks associated with e-mail messages, you may decide not to use e-mail to communicate with IPC. IPC reserves the right, to the extent and under circumstances permitted by applicable law, to retain, monitor and intercept e-mail messages to and from its systems.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
Now shipping: Help & 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 & Manual: http://www.helpandmanual.com
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
