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Subject:Re: Use of "shall" From:"Linda K. Sherman" <linsherm -at- CONCENTRIC -dot- NET> Date:Fri, 30 Jan 1998 15:40:33 -0500
Barb Ostapina wrote:
>
> While we're on the subject of word usage (and I don't know if this will be
> considered to be in or out of list rule boundaries but it's been bothering
> me for some time, and more so since I've become a tech writer)...
> What do you all think about the use of "wish" vs. "want" as in "If you wish
> to xyz..." It seems so, well, like wishing on a star to me. What's wrong
> with "If you want to xyz..."? How did the wish thing come about? Am I the
> only one driven nuts by it?
No, but actually, you can solve your problem by eliminating it entirely:
"If you wish/want to save the file in compressed format..."
"To save the file in compressed format..."
This is often better anyway because the "key" the reader is probably
scanning for ("to save the file in compressed format") as at the
beginning of the sentence.
L.
--
Linda K. Sherman <linsherm -at- concentric -dot- net>
Welsh-related and other stuff to be found at http://www.concentric.net/~linsherm
