Re: Killer Language -Reply

[Eric Haddock <eric -at- ENGAGENET -dot- COM>]

>>   Whenever I hear the word "abort," I can't not think
>> about abortion. No matter what the context is I can't help
>> myself.
>>    To me, anything with "abort" in it has a negative
>> connotation even if the action itself is merely a computer
>> sort. My sensitivity to this is in the minority I know
> <snip>

>It could be that you are less in the minority than you
>think.  These days, it is considered laughable to be
>sensitive to the matter of abortion.  If one expresses any
>opposition to it, even says that maybe there could be more
>than one opinion on the subject, one is often ridiculed,
>one's friends occasionally drop one like a hot potato, one's
>career can be derailed, etc.  So those who are against
>abortion, or even those who think that it should be rarer,
>are effectively shut up.

   I never said I was opposed to it. Quite the contrary--I'm committed to
defending a woman's right to choose.

   My point was that the word "abort" can remind someone of the whole
issue, which is something we want to avoid if we can. It doesn't matter
what an individual's view is. We want to keep our readers focused on the
product, not slip in reminders of sociological problems.






-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric Haddock ------ http://www2.corenet.net/moonlion (updated 10.27.96)
    Technical writer
Engage Networks, Inc. ----- http://www.engagenet.com
    in the Historic Third Ward of Milwaukee, WI

    There is but one process that cannot be documented:  Chocolate