Against "we"

Subject: Against "we"
From: Mark Levinson <mark -at- SD -dot- CO -dot- IL>
Date: Wed, 9 Aug 1995 16:13:50 IDT

I've noticed that the engineers around here love to write "It is recommended
that" in place of the shorter, but more attributable, "We recommend."

** I like to avoid "we". It's too ambiguous. It leads to stuff like
"As we saw in our previous example," where "we" wobbles between
meaning the writer and meaning the reader. Rather than "we recommend"
I try to use an imperative, or "you should." As a last resort, I
would say "Summit recommends," speaking explicitly (and in
the third person) of my employer, so that the reader knows
exactly who stands behind that recommendation.

_________________________________________________________________________
Mark L. Levinson | E-mail: mark -at- sd -dot- co -dot- il
Summit Design (EDA) Ltd. | Voice: +972-9-507102, ext. 230 (work),
Box 544 | +972-9-552411 (home)
46105 Herzlia, ISRAEL | Fax: +972-9-509118
_________________________________________________________________________
"Graphics are especially useful for drawing readers into the book."
- STC Intercom
_________________________________________________________________________


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