Re: Use of language

[Andrew Woodhouse <awoodhou -at- MPC-UK -dot- COM>]

Wolf Lahti <wduby -at- techcenter -dot- paccar -dot- com> writes:

> A few subscribers are complaining about the discussion of language on this
> list, one saying that we are 'users' of language, not its definers.

> Everyone who uses language serves to define it. That's how language came to
> be in the first place and how it continues to exist and evolve.

> If you want to simply use language and don't care whether you use it well
> and with elegance--which is what I perceive these 'irrelevant' language
> discussions to be about--then why are you subscribed to a list about tech
> writing? What do you perceive a tech writing list to be about if not use of
> language?




>    -------------------------------------------------
>       "Those who take this seriously deserve to."
>                               -- Donna Barr
>    -------------------------------------------------

It's one thing to use language well and with eloquence, but quite another to
spend hours pondering the use of words in a TECHNICAL DOCUMENT where:

a) most readers are impervious to nuances

b) the subject matter of *most* tech. documentation (with the possible exception
of creative/games packages) is not suited to rich, metaphoric language  - which
is, necessarily, how language evolves (I can explain this further to people if
they want). It doesn't just make the documentation overtly ebulliant, it
actually *harms* its effectiveness.

Anyway, the above is redundant, since the discussions on language on this list
are *NOT* about using elegant language. For the most part they are pedantic
people discussing the "correct" ways to write. Paradoxically, such people are
attempting to standardise a very non-standardised thing!

Lastly, what do I perceive a technical writing list to be about?
documentation systems, electronic/online delivery, writing help text, document
structure...


PS: here's some serious playing with language (by Frank Stevenson
<t22001 -at- cc -dot- ntnu -dot- edu -dot- tw>) - hope he doesn't mind me quoting him!

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

 politically correct xmas


  saint klaus, nicklaus = niko-leos ("conqueror of the people") in greek
  st. close (inner sanctum, instant sanka) = st. claws

  plastered against sky on insect-antennaed rooftops across Am-ri-ka
  pussy-footed fat honky in rubber boots descends smokeless chimneys
  while tiny pink cocks poke forth timid heads from stocking tops
  and high-voltage-pulsing green tree opens budding cones to infinity


Merry Christmas


Andrew Woodhouse

------------ Technical Writer ------------
   U S WEST INTERNATIONAL SYSTEMS GROUP
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 email (work) : andrew -dot- woodhouse -at- isysg -dot- com
 email (home) : awoodho -at- ibm -dot- net
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