TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Home vs. non-home systems From:geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA Date:Tue, 7 Jan 1997 09:48:19 -0600
Sarah Perrault asked for help with a passcard-type system
in which one's personal "home" card could also be
reprogrammed to open someone else's locks. Sarah, I agree
with your reasoning that "foreign", though correct by one
dictionary meaning, has too many adverse connotations in
your context.
This sounds enough like a parent/foster child relationship
that you could perhaps call one the "home" or "parent"
system and the other one the "fostered" system. If that
particular metaphor doesn't work for you, perhaps move away
from the "home" idea entirely. You could go with "personal"
vs. "borrowed" system, or better yet, "temporary" vs.
"delegated" or "assigned" system.
You could also turn the phrasing around 180 degrees and
define the relationship of the cardholder to the system,
rather than nature of the system's ownership: then you
could say that "Joe" is the "administrator
[coordinator/manager/gatekeeper/etc.]" of one system and
the "guest [temporary/visiting/ad hoc/etc.] administrator"
of the other system.
--Geoff Hart @8^{)} geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.
TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send commands
to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/ or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html