Re: You Use 'you'?

Subject: Re: You Use 'you'?
From: Laura Johnson <lauraj -at- CND -dot- HP -dot- COM>
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 1994 18:55:52 GMT

Cheng, Derek (Cderek -at- gate-hal -dot- psd -dot- symbol -dot- com) wrote:

: Admittedly, a user document is always implying second person, but does it
: ever explicitly need some sort of disclaimer within the text? (i.e. "
: 'You' refers to the
: programmer/user/lost-soul-seeking-informational-refuge. ") Isn't this the
: same as stating who the intended audience is?

I think "you" helps you *avoid* having to explain who you're talking
about: "you" is absolutely, completely, obviously the person who is
reading the text. Up front, you state the intended audience, and assume
that if someone outside the audience reads the book anyway, they'll
know to take the "you" statements (and everything else) with a grain
of salt. ("Whaddya mean 'declare a global variable'? I'm not a programmer!")


Previous by Author: Re: correct passwords
Next by Author: Re: Higher
Previous by Thread: Re: You Use 'you'?
Next by Thread: Re: You Use 'you'?


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads