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Subject:RE: end user vs end-user From:nancy -dot- bush -at- insurity -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 23 Oct 2003 13:26:33 -0400
Responding on the hyphen issue rather than the propriety of the term--
"End user" is a noun phrase ("user" plus the modifying "end"), as in "This
document is for the end user." (In these phrases, accent is on the second
word.)
With "end-user," context is everything, as previous posters have joked.
Accent is on the first word. Ordinarily, the hyphen suggests "of," in which
case the phrase means a "user of ends." However, in a tech context, where
the audience is familiar with the term, the hyphen has the effect of making
the phrase a single adjective, as in, "This is end-user documentation."
With verb phrases, the situation is similar, but the hyphen makes the phrase
a noun--as in "Lock up when you leave" but "a lock-up at the jail"; or "Set
up the template" but "That was a set-up."
-----Original Message-----
From: Amanda Fitch
To: TECHWR-L
Sent: 10/23/2003 12:19 PM
Subject: RE: end user vs end-user
Glad to hear your thoughts mirror my own. Thanks for your help and the
comedy!
I typically don't refer to users as end users. The document I'm writing,
however, is for an administrator who has internal and external users. I
won't bore you with the details...
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