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Subject:Re: Gerunds in titles and headings From:Jeff Wiggin <wiggin -at- RPI -dot- EDU> Date:Wed, 13 Jan 1999 18:01:19 -0500
Kate Schommer wrote:
>
> Okay, folks, how about this twist?
>
> Tech writers in my department like to use the gerund form for headings in =
> our manuals: "Adding a Note." However, our instructional designers have =
> insisted that we use the form "Note Adding", or even better, "Note =
> Addition", so that they can tack the word "Procedure" on the end in the =
> related training materials.
>
> Can anyone support my argument that "Procedure" is unnecessary in an OJT =
> training guide that consists of nothing BUT procedures?!
Some people just like turning a gerund into a weaker nominalization, and
then compounding the clunkiness with a triple noun phrase by adding the
redundant "Procedure" later. Makes them feel grown up- and
important-sounding, I think. Maybe they are frustrated lawyers.
regards,
-Jeff W.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Jeffrey R. Wiggin, M.S.
Technical Communicator mailto:wiggin -at- rpi -dot- edu
