Re: Yahoo has no staff tech writers

[Kevin McLauchlan <kmclauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com>]

On Thursday 10 October 2002 12:06, Jeff Hanvey wrote:

> Moreover, it is the writer's job to stress more than the
> average person over grammar - after all, s/he needs to
> make sure the language is accessible to his/her audience.

I'm not QUITE prepared to make poor grammar a capital 
offence, but it's right up there.

My first reaction, upon encountering fractured grammar 
and spelling in technical or business documents, is a 
provisional downgrade of my estimation of the writer, 
the document content, and the company that let this 
happen. While that decision/reaction is still provisional, 
I try to find evidence that the writer is not a native 
speaker.  That's so that I can justify cutting some slack.

If I fail to find that evidence, then my immediate response 
is to make that lowered estimation permanent. Right 
away, they've got to win back my trust, and it's gonna 
be an uphill battle.

The professional face that you present to the world is the 
best you've got.  If that was your best, then I'm looking
for another supplier.

And with that in mind, I failed, the other night, to escape 
a news broadcast, before hearing a portion of GW Bush's
address to his nation.  I was trapped in grizly fascination 
as the man repeated "newk-yoo-lur" some twenty times.

Prez George is surrounded by advisors and handlers and 
speech-writers and publicists and other spin-doctors... 
couldn't ONE of them have told "the leader of the free 
world" how to pronounce "nuclear"?  For that matter, do 
any of his most trusted even know how, themselves?

Or did I fail to realize that I was getting the version 
that was directed at the yokel audience?

I can just see Tony Blair wincing every time he hears 
GW say "newk-yoo-lur", the Brit reserve crumbling a 
little, as he wonders: "Should I tell Georgie that his 
fly is open?"

Of course, my own maximum leader (one King Jean Chretien) 
ain't no prize either, but he has an excuse.  But then, I 
have no respect for him...   hmm.

Nobody should be obsessing about grammar, spelling, 
pronunciation. Just do it correctly. If you *have* to 
obsess over it, you are probably in the wrong business.
Readers/listeners of even moderate sophistication won't 
obsess either. They'll just hear/read something 
uncomfortable or grating, and automatically lower 
their opinion of the source. They'll feel just a smidgen 
of distrust for the technical or logical, or persuasive 
content of what they are reading, based on the sub-standard
way in which it is presented.

Critical evaluators who control order books often seem 
to feel that "good enough" is not quite good enough in 
enterprise-critical situations. Maybe they should search 
a little further, for a supplier who knows what quality 
means.

/kevin (north of /n/e/w/k/y/o/o/l/u/r/ the 49th)


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