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Subject:Re: Microsoft Manual of Style From:"Eric Haddock, Q.P." <ehaddock -at- ENGAGENET -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 14 Apr 1997 16:29:35 -0500
There has to be _some_ connection between technical writing and what's
used in conversation, and I've never heard "mouse devices" used I don't
think. I've heard "input devices" before but, I believe, that's because
there's no obvious plural for "input." There is for "mouse" though and
that's what I've heard people use in real life.
If you're walking down the hall with a box of, um, rodent-looking input
devices, and someone asks you what you have, you'd almost certainly say "a
box of mice" or "a box of computer mice."
Who says "mouse devices?" To use a phrase like that pulls technical
writing further away from familiar language. Overly formal writing for
formal's sake. It's like academic writing which, IMO, has no place in
technical writing for user benefit.
"Computer mice" or even "input devices" sounds better.
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