Re: My use of profanity [now with a note about audience]

["Chris W. Rea [UL]" <cwrea -at- CREDIT -dot- ERIN -dot- UTORONTO -dot- CA>]

On Tue, 7 Nov 1995, LaVonna Funkhouser wrote:

> >language (and would use it myself, if given good reason to do so.) People who
> >cry foul because of a 4-letter expletive aren't acting out of nobility: they
> >are acting out of stupidity and are wasting bandwidth in the process.
>                    ^^^^^^^^^
> I question Chris's knowledge of the techwr-l audience.  If you *know* that
> strong words will make people discredit your argument, then you are hurting
> your side of a debate by using it.  You also will not make friends or
> influence people by saying they act in stupidity.

Actually, for the record, I haven't seen anybody "cry foul" on the list so
far, so I wasn't making any inference about its recipients and contributors.
And if there were such an inference, 'twould only be about those crying foul:
the act of one would not immediately stupidize (is that a word? :-) the
remaining people on the list.

> As we technical communicators say:  Know thy audience.

Amen.


 [ CHRIS W. REA  [UL] | The slightest confusion becomes a lethal wound  ]
 | U. of T.  CompSci. | You know how to lie you know how to take a hint |
 | email: cwrea -at- credi | Resorting to proper measures to stop the trend  |
 [ t.erin.utoronto.ca | Previously unyielding but now compelled to bend ]