"shorthand" vs. plain writing style

[Al Geist]

   I've seen a lot of maintenance and repair manuals written this way.  The
   users of these manuals could care about properly formed sentences...most of
   them get paid by the project, so they only want the meat.  This style of
   writing gets immediately to the point and is quite effective for those types
   of situations.  As for translatability...when I used repair/maintenance
   manuals, I was working on American-made cars (back when each country had
   their own separate auto industry) and the manuals (factory manuals and
   Haines guides) were all written in English.  They also included a lot of
   illustrations.
   I understand that today's cars are more global, but I don't see where this
   style of writing would have any more translation problems than any other
   style of writing.
   Al
   Yves Barbion wrote:

     Hello techwhirlers,
     I'm doing some research on car repair manuals. A typical writing style
     here
     seems to be some sort of "shorthand" English, in which articles and
     pronouns
     are omitted. For example:
     - "Remove fuel tank cover."
     - "Drain fuel tank and clean fuel filler neck and surrounding area."
     - "Unscrew securing bolt and remove tank flap unit with rubber cup."
     - "Remove securing bolts on filler neck."
     - "Ensure fuel hoses are tight."
     Any thoughts/opinions about this writing style? Pros and cons? Where does
     this writing style come from? Effect on the readability and
     translatability
     of the text?

   --

   Al Geist
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