RE: Perceptually true, Technically wrong

[John Posada <JPosada -at- book -dot- com>]

We tend to forget that different fields have evolved their own specialized
nomenclature...nomenclature that when viewed by someone outside of the
field, seems either more complex or less intuitive than something it would
be called from outside the field. Most times, that nomenclature evolved
because the existing terms were either not precise enough, or they had a
habit of being misunderstood.

>A few years ago I did a job that involved a training
>manual for medical transcription. The doctors used 
>the abbreviation "LE" to refer to "lower extremity."
>At the time I asked one of the transcribers why they 
>didn't just say "leg", which after all is just one 
>more character and much more intuitive. She gently 
>reminded me that an LE could potentially be only a 
>portion of a leg.


John Posada
Senior Technical Writer
Barnes&Noble.com
jposada -at- book -dot- com
NY: 212-414-6656
Dayton: 732-438-3372
"Alright, nobody move! I've got a dragon here, and I'm not afraid to use it"
---------- Donkey

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