Re: Prepend? If it's not in the dictionary, just say no!

Subject: Re: Prepend? If it's not in the dictionary, just say no!
From: Hollister Technical Services <Holtec -at- COMITY -dot- DEMON -dot- CO -dot- UK>
Date: Sun, 16 May 1999 16:19:57 +0100

In article <m10iLst-000BNAC -at- mail -dot- GTS -dot- ORG>, Geoff Hart <Geoff-
h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA> writes
>Steven Ward observes that <<I can't find 'prepend' as a word,
...
>As a rule of thumb, if you can't find a certain word in a
>common, low-end dictionary, I recommend avoiding the
>word because any of your readers who doesn't already know
>the word won't be able to find the word and figure out what it
>means.

<snip>

I was recently reading a very highly respected book on technical writing
and came to the word 'disambiguate'. It was quite clear to me what it
meant -- to remove the ambiguity from. I had never come across the word
before, not surprising since it is not part of the (commonly spoken)
English language. On checking a copy of Webster's dictionary I found the
word and it means what I thought it did. So it is a perfectly good
American word understandable by those unfortunate enough not to speak
fluent American.

If you can use words in such a fashion that the intended reader or
listener understands then you have succeeded regardless of whose
dictionary you use.


--
Peter Jones

e-mail Holtec -at- comity -dot- demon -dot- co -dot- uk

From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=




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