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Subject:Re: Using Capital Letters From:Tracy Boyington <tracy_boyington -at- OKVOTECH -dot- ORG> Date:Mon, 11 Aug 1997 08:45:38 -0500
> Jennifer O'Neill asked about this odd trait of putting "key words" in
> capitals. (This is definitely a case for the Writing Police!) I've run into
> this a few times, all from junior technical writers or developers
> attempting to write technical material. Somewhere, they're being told that
> "important" words should be capitalized.
Yes, I've noticed this in people who are SMEs-turned-writers. My theory
is that "rules" like "capitalize all important words" and "put a comma
where you would take a breath" are or were sometimes taught as simple
rules of thumb instead of (or before) teaching the more complicated
truth. Some people (many of us) pick up these language concepts easily,
just like some people (not me!) learn math concepts easily. And some of
you can do both, you lucky dogs.
Tracy
==============================================
Tracy Boyington tracy_boyington -at- okvotech -dot- org
Oklahoma Department of Vocational and Technical Education
Stillwater, OK, USA http://www.okvotech.org/cimc/home.htm
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