Re: The meaning of "technical"

Subject: Re: The meaning of "technical"
From: Ed Gregory <edgregory -at- HOME -dot- NET>
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1999 00:32:31 -0600

The term "technical writer" too often means only that "technically, this
person gets paid for writing."
One of my favorite "flames" was by author Truman Capote. When asked about
the work of Jack Kerouac, Capote replied:
"That's not writing. That's typing."


At 05:21 PM 1/5/99 +0100, John Cornellier wrote:
>Re. Diane Gutierrez's post about the vernacular meaning of
>technical:
>
>Merriam Webster's gives the definition of "technical" (1b) as
>"marked by or characteristic of specialization".
>
>In the case below it just means "specialized". E.g., people
>describe ski runs or mountain bike trails as "technical",
>which means requiring specialized skills, or TECHniques.
>(Those interested in etymology should check technology, BTW).
>
>This is also the sense of "technical" in "technical writer".
>Many of the recent postings to this list, comparing writers to
>engineers, etc., make the false assumption that "technical" in
>"technical writer" necessarily refers to technology.
>

Ed Gregory
http://www.members.home.net/edgregory/search1.htm

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