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.
Sue Ahrenhold, responding to "some discussions we had in college about the
ways in which language was used to oppress women", reported: <<My own
personal favorite is history -- "his story">>
It's not clear whether you were stating that "history" represents oppressive
language, or scorning this claim for the myth that it is. For those who
aren't aware of this particularly pernicious myth, "history" is either the
anglicized version of the French "histoire" or goes back even further to the
Greek "historia" ("andros" is Greek for male), depending on who you listen
too. In French, "his" has no etymological origin in anything masculine. The
same note applies to "manual" and many other words prefixed with "man",
which derive from the Latin "manus" (hand). Same note about the "man" prefix
not meaning anything remotely male in Latin; "man" (as in male) seems to
come from Sanskrit, not Latin.
Okay, end of rant, and apologies if I've tarred you with guilt by
association.
--Geoff Hart, geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada
580 boul. St-Jean
Pointe-Claire, Que., H9R 3J9 Canada
Vah! Denuone Latine loquebar? Me ineptum. Interdum modo elabitur. (Oh! Was I
speaking Latin again? Silly me. Sometimes it just sort of slips
out.)--Anonymous
Order RoboHelp Office X3 by March 14 and receive a $100 mail-in rebate,
plus FREE WebHelp Merge Module and FREE iMarkup Software, for a
total giveaway value of $439! Order today at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
Help celebrate TECHWR-L's 10th Anniversary starting this month!
Check out the contests at http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/special/contests/
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday TECHWR-L....
---
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.
