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Subject:Re: Help! passive/active (long) From:Michael Priestley <mpriestley -at- VNET -dot- IBM -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 31 Jan 1996 10:32:24 EST
Kirstin Mercer (kirstin -at- intercon -dot- com) writes:
> The Options dialog appears. (appears out of thin air?)
This is the option we use. "Is displayed" is also perfectly acceptable,
but "appears" is shorter, synonymous, and active.
Read the definition of the word "appears". Its meaning is appropriate.
I suspect that it sounds funny only because you pay undue attention to
it (like any word will sound funny if you repeat it fifty times).
"By the time John finally appeared at the party..." should sound completely
unremarkable. It will sound unremarkable to a normal reader. The only person
it won't sound normal to is someone who has recently been in a debate about
the "magical" connotations of the word.
Later,
Michael Priestley
mpriestley -at- vnet -dot- ibm -dot- com
Disclaimer: speaking on my own behalf, not IBM's.
