TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Okay, I know it's OT, but I just had to throw in my two wee little bits:
On Wed, 17 Sep 1997 17:00:42 -0700, Chuck Martin wrote:
>Serious part of the response:
>
[snip]
>"In the 1990s U.S., "abort" probably has a higher emotional content than
>"master/slave." Howver, as we evolve as a society, and as our language
>evolves with us, we can work to find terminology that is both accurate and
>emotionless.
[snip]
Alas, there are some perfectly good, perfectly innocuous words that have
been "stolen" for the sake of political correctness. In fact, the use of
"abort" has been hashed out here before. It's a word that has many
meanings, and HAS had many meanings, long before it was used (somewhat
incorrectly) to refer to the termination of a fetus. That it is now
associated exclusively with that procedure is unfortunate, because we now
cannot use it in any of its proper contexts or original meanings without
worrying about "offending" someone with too much sensitivity and too much
spare time.
Indeed, "master/slave" may be even worse, because the terms, or at least
the combination of them in this sense, have many more negative
connotations even at their origins, than "abort" ever did. Even so,
there are times when they very appropriately describe the interaction
between pieces of equipment - for example, in a recording studio, several
devices may be connected together, all of them synchronized, one serving
as the "master", the others as "slaves" under its control.
>Lighthearted part of the response:
[snip]
>While I'll be enjoying the Folson Street Fair with a friend, neither one of
>use will immerse ourselves in the whole "master/slave" thing there. To
>each his/her own....
Don't you mean "his/her/its"? <running and ducking for cover!>
Your friend and mine,
Matt
<insert standard disclaimer here>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
And the men who hold high places
Must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality
Closer to the heart
- Rush, "Closer To The Heart"
TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send commands
to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/ or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html
