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David Downing wonders: <<I have, in the past, made the mistake of equating
excessive chattiness with user-friendliness, However, I think you can go
too far the other way.>>
Certainly. You should neither gossip so much that the actual instructions
can't be extracted from amidst all the background noise, nor produce prose
so telegraphic that you sound like a drill sergeant barking orders at
terrified recruits.
<<In the interest of verbal economy, you can come off sounding rude and
hostile.>>
If you're looking for examples, I think most commercial-quality
documentation strikes the right balance. Present the facts economically,
without elaboration, but preserve all the useful linking and
context-defining words (articles, prepositions, pronouns, etc.). That works
for most English-speaking audiences. Don't forget, they're reading to find
out how to do something, not to appreciate the poetry of your style.
--Geoff Hart, FERIC, Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
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"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that
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