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.
-Keith Cronin, who thinks that nobody should worry his or her pretty
little head (or is it _their_ head, or maybe their _heads_?) about
nitpicky grammatical stuff...
<g> "Nobody should worry their pretty little head about nitpicky grammatical
stuff..."
Keith Cronin wrote, to Geoff Hart: <<Your take on "their" is interesting -
that's the first time I've heard of any "official" approval of the custom,
whereas I've heard a LOT of equally official condemnation of the practice.>>
.... <<I personally don't mind it; it's conversationally accurate, and it
solves a lot of problems. But I still don't feel comfortable using it in
business writing.>>
And rightly so. I am (as an earlier post will indicate, should it ever show
up on the Techwr-L server) entirely in favour of non-sexist writing, as it
is more accurate and less sloppy, as well as more polite. But Geoff's
reasoning why everyone should strive to write non-sexistly, to avoid
offending at minimum 25% of your audience, applies equally to use of the
singular "their": it *is* grammatically acceptable, you *will* find
respectable historical antecedents... yet, in formal technical writing, I
would try to avoid it, because there will always be some people to whom it
is offensive. (I avoid splitting infinitives for the same reason - not that
there's anything wrong with it, but that some people believe strongly that
*is*.)
Jane Carnall
Technical Writer, Digital Bridges, Scotland
Unless stated otherwise, these opinions are mine, and mine alone.
*** Deva(tm) Tools for Dreamweaver and Deva(tm) Search ***
Build Contents, Indexes, and Search for Web Sites and Help Systems
Available now at http://www.devahelp.com or info -at- devahelp -dot- com
TECH*COMM 2001 Conference, July 15-18 in Washington, DC
The Help Technology Conference, August 21-24 in Boston, MA
Details and online registration at http://www.SolutionsEvents.com
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
