RE: A question of grammar vs. brevity?

["Downing, David" <DavidDowning -at- users -dot- com>]

Well, the "it" solution is one I hadn't thought of that might work. I
wonder why I didn't think of it.

-----Original Message-----
From: Geoff Hart [mailto:ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca] 
Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2008 12:48 PM
To: techwr-l List; Downing, David
Subject: A question of grammar vs. brevity?

David Downing wondered: <<I want to create a single section of a  
document that deals with both adding information to and removing  
information from something. The completely grammatically correct  
heading for this section would be something like: "Adding [the  
information] to and removing [the information] from [the thing]." I  
would like to avoid repeating "[the information].">>

Fortunately, English offers this really cool feature (at least in  
service pack SP2 of the 64-bit "pro" version) referred to as a  
pronoun. <g> In simpler terms, we call it an "it", to wit: "Adding  
information to and removing it from the thing".

Better still, why not create a main heading "Modifying the  
information in the thing", which presents information on all kinds of  
things in common to adding and deleting, but that is then followed by  
two subheadings: "Adding information" and "Removing information".  
Odds are good that there are significant differences between the two;  
for example, when adding information, you need to explain what to do  
about duplicated or inconsistent information, whereas with deleting,  
you need to discuss backups and other precautions that should be  
taken if you err.


----------------------------------------------------
-- Geoff Hart
ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
www.geoff-hart.com
--------------------------------------------------
***Now available***  _Effective onscreen editing_
(http://www.geoff-hart.com/books/eoe/onscreen-book.htm)

Print version: http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fStoreID=1505747

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

ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to author and 
publish quality Help, Web, and print content. Perfect for technical 
authors, developers, and policy writers. Download a FREE trial.
http://www.componentone.com/DocToHelp/

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! 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/ for more resources and info.