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.
Subject:RE: Should vs. Will, Must and Can From:Alan -dot- Miller -at- prometric -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 7 Jan 2002 09:23:06 -0500
Another late arrival, here...
In the nuclear industry (both Navy and commercial), "should" is defined to
mean "shall" or "must." Thus removing all confusion.
Knuckle-heads will find a way to sue, no matter what. Shortly following TMI
(Three Mile Island, to civilians), some fellow working in his yard was
stung by a bee. He promptly sued his neighborhood nuclear power plant,
claiming that the bee had flown through the plant, was crazed by exposure
to radiation, and attacked him.
Al Miller
Chief Documentation Curmudgeon
Prometric, Inc.
Baltimore, MD
"Make something idiot-proof and someone will make a better idiot."
Please respond to Marguerite Krupp <mkrupp -at- cisco -dot- com>
Sent by: bounce-techwr-l-40429 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
cc:
Subject: RE: Should vs. Will, Must and Can
Leaping in late, I have to add that "must" leaves no doubt about what
actions are required. "Should" implies an option. When I was writing about
process control systems, we never used "should" because of the potential
for
legal liability.
And I do favor the present tense, as do most of the other posters.
My $0.02
Marguerite
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Collect Royalties, Not Rejection Letters! Tell us your rejection story when you
submit your manuscript to iUniverse Nov. 6 -Dec. 15 and get five free copies of
your book. What are you waiting for? http://www.iuniverse.com/media/techwr
---
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.
