Re: : ...impersonating a technical writer...

[Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>]

 Sandra Law <sandra -at- qmaster -dot- com> wrote:

>I realize that specialized knowledge is required in any field,
but more than a
>few times conversations I have been a party to or have overheard
(jam packed
>with buzz words and technospeak) resemble voodoo or magical
incantations more
>than rational speech.

True! But many of us on this list are handicapped by the idea
that language is for communication. For many people, language is
a means of showing membership in a group - or of excluding others
from a group.

I often complain about this abuse of language. However, I also
have to admit that hearing marketing and top level management
mis-use jargon has brightened up many a rainy afternoon, so maybe
I shouldn't complain.

>I guess you could say that I have been sales pitched out.  And
the sales pitches
>of the IT industry, like most, have come to sound, more than a
little, like
>'BS'.

With sentiments like this, maybe you should have a look at
www.cluetrain.com. "The ClueTrain Manifesto" has recently been
published as a book, too. Basically, both the web site and the
book discuss the fact that the internet has made doing business a
conversation, and that the tired old hype won't work any more.

--
Bruce Byfield, Outlaw Communications
3015 Aries Place, Burnaby, BC V37 7E8, Canada
bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604.421.7189

"And you to whom adversity has dealt the final blow,
with smiling bastards lying 'bout you everywhere you go,
Stand tall and put forth all your strength of hand and heart and brain,
And like the 'Mary Ellen Carter' rise again."
- Stan Rogers "The 'Mary Ellen Carter'"