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:RE: FAQs in User Guides From:"Geoff Lane" <geoff -at- gjctech -dot- co -dot- uk> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 3 Jan 2001 16:00:19 -0000
Scott Turner wrote:
>
> Ah, reminds me of a job writing for IBM, where the contact
> asked us not
> to use the word "invoke" (we were documenting a mainframe operating
> language), on religious grounds. Didn't want to offend people who
> associated invoke with invoking the devil.
>
> We said Ok, no problem, it is a high level latin word anyway.
>
> And then I pointed out that one could and many people
> regularly invoked
> the name of God in prayer.
>
> Just another case of ignorance overcoming common sense.
----
A similar thing happened to me. Canadian clients objected to one program
invoking another. Their editor replaced "invokes" with "summons", to which I
ROFL'd because, in English, "summons" is primarily used in a legal context
and means to require a person to attend a lawcourt (usually as the
defendant). Thus, the English "summons" roughly translates to the American
"subpoena". Secondary usages of "summon" are to call to a gathering, or to
call upon demons or spirits. We eventually agreed that one program may call
another (but I bet some list member has a valid objection to that!)
FWIW, I've used "invoke" in this context for over a decade and my Canadian
friends were the first to object.
Geoff Lane
Cornwall, UK
geoff -at- gjctech -dot- co -dot- uk
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Develop HTML-based Help with Macromedia Dreamweaver! (STC Discount.)
**NEW DATE/LOCATION!** January 16-17, 2001, New York, NY. http://www.weisner.com/training/dreamweaver_help.htm or 800-646-9989.
Sponsored by DigiPub Solutions Corp, producers of PDF 2001
Conference East, June 4-5, Baltimore/Washington D.C. area. http://www.pdfconference.com or toll-free 877/278-2131.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
