Responsible use of Obviously

[Steve Barnet <barnet -at- MAYBERRY -dot- CRAY -dot- COM>]

Hi all,

  I have been considering the way many books/manuals use the word
'obviously.'  As I read manuals, text books or other such technical
documents I run across sentences of the form

  'Obviously, if ABC is true then XYZ must be false'

or more genrally,

  'Obviously, <insert favorite assertion here>'

  The problem I have with sentences of this type is that the
assertion is usually not very obvious to the reader.  In fact, it
seems to me that usually the assertion is anything but obvious to
anyone who does not have the writer's background.

  I understand that in many cases it may be used simply to make a
sentence flow more naturally. However, I think it may also hinder
communication in at least two ways.

   1) It's illogical and wordy - If it's obvious, why are you writing it?

   2) It's psychologically hard on the reader - It's irritating to think
            hard about something the writer considers obviuos.


  This is just my opinion; Questions, comments, and
scathing rebuttals welcomed.

Regards,
---Steve

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ Steve Barnet                         |  The normal world situation       +
+ Hardware Publications & Training     |  doesn't happen often -- but it   +
+ Cray Research, Inc.                  |  could.                           +
+ I speak for myself, not my employer! |  --Rod Anderson                   +
+ barnet -at- cray -dot- com                      |    Cray Research, Inc.            +
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