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Subject:Re: 'author' vs. 'write' From:Jim Purcell <jimpur -at- MICROSOFT -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 28 May 1997 09:43:16 -0700
Mary Howe asks:
> What is the difference between the verbs 'to author' and 'to write'?
> I've never used 'author' myself because I just thought it was a social
> dialect variation (like 'home' and 'house', 'drapes' and 'curtains',
> 'frosting' and 'icing', etc.).
>
> I'm posting this here because 'to author' appears to have a special
> meaning to technical writers. If this turns into a discussion of the
> connotations/dialect differences among all the words above, let's take
> it to copyediting-l.
>
I have always heard "authoring tools" used to describe not word
processors, but tools for creating Web sites, CBT, multimedia
presentations, and such like. I suppose there is a useful distinction
between this kind of work and applying words to paper in the usual way,
especially for companies that make authoring software. I have no idea,
though, why author-as-verb was selected for the purpose.
Jim Purcell
jimpur -at- microsoft -dot- com
My opinions, not Microsoft's
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