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Subject:Re: Latin vs. Germanic From:Alexia Prendergast <alexiap -at- SEAGATESOFTWARE -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 1 Aug 1997 07:25:38 -0400
My argument is to be more precise... not to sound "schooled".
(I have no trouble using the word "book" ;)
Why should I use "click" when hardly anyone in my audience
(sys admins) uses the mouse? Besides, as I said before, you
don't click an option -- you click a mouse button (or use any
number of access methods) to select an option. That's awkward
and makes assumptions about how the user wants to select the
option, so I just use "select" instead. If my audience is
elementary or not familiar with a platform, I include a reference
section towards the end of the book that describes the different
ways to select an item.
On the other hand, if I was writing for a relatively unsophisticated
audience, I might feel justified to use "click" -- but I haven't
yet.
A.
PS. I quit drinking caffiene yesterday, so if I seem especially
touchy or cranky, I'll apologize in advance ;)
--
Alexia Prendergast
Senior Technical Writer
Seagate Software mailto:alexiap -at- sems -dot- com
>----------
>From: Donald J. Plummer[SMTP:donp -at- BGNET -dot- BGSU -dot- EDU]
>Sent: Thursday, July 31, 1997 7:06 PM
>To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
>Subject: Re: Latin vs. Germanic
>
>>
>>I remember reading once that when someone wants to sound "schooled" they
>>use Latin words such as "manual." By contrast, a person trying to speak
>>more commonly would choose "book." Alexia's argument sounds similar.
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