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.
Re: I had to say it because I was afraid no one else would
Subject:Re: I had to say it because I was afraid no one else would From:voxwoman <voxwoman -at- gmail -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Fri, 6 Feb 2009 08:06:19 -0500
On Fri, Feb 6, 2009 at 6:29 AM, Michael West <mbwest -at- bigpond -dot- com> wrote:
> >
> > About twenty years ago, I worked for a commercial baker (you know those
> > grocery store white boxes) as a secretary and had been asked to type a
> > memo for a marketing manager because his own secretary was out that day.
> > It was five pages written in long hand of the most liberty I've ever
> > seen taken with our language. Terms like "incentivize" and "grow the
> > business" abounded. So used to editing my own bosses' mutilated grammar,
> > I blithely edited as I typed. To my astonishment, he came out of his
> > office with the typed copy, red as a beet, demanding to know what right
> > I had to mutilate his words.
>
> As he should have. I hope in the intervening twenty years you've learned to
> do what your boss asks instead of taking it upon yourself to save the
> language. You were asked to type--not to rewrite. The business-school
> jargon
> the marketing manager used was quite likely appropriate to his audience and
> his purposes, and even if it wasn't, you had no business recasting his memo
> into language that you personally preferred without his leave.
>
> Tech writers have a public image problem that is not helped by smart-asses
> who assume, without asking, that they know more about their bosses' jobs
> than their bosses know.
>
> Anyone who can write "five pages written in long hand of the most liberty
> I've ever seen taken." is in no position to be correcting others.
>
>
So I should have let "protect our critical asses" sit on our corporate web
page, instead of correcting it to "protect our critical assets"?
I thought my job was to keep my boss (or the company I work for) from
looking like a fool, instead of being a mindless robot. They can hire data
entry people a lot cheaper than what I charge per hour.
I'm not out to save our precious English language from the ravages of
marketeers. I just believe that certain professional communications should
rise above the level of text messages. I deal with a lot of people to whom
English is a second (or third) language. I try to use "proper" English when
I deal with them because to do otherwise is to invite misunderstandings that
end up costing the company hard cash. And I also hope that it improves their
English comprehension and usage along the way.
ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing
solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word or
HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. http://www.doctohelp.com
Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
