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: Dictionary of Connotations From:dthomps -at- foundationsoft -dot- com To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com Date:Thu, 22 Jan 2004 12:14:15 -0500
An Easy Hoe was exactly what I was afraid of! In this case, however, it's
part of a sub-heading for a software product, and I wanted to use "Powerful,
Flexible and Easy." I don't think "Powerful, Flexible and Easy to Use" is
quite as good from the Zen-like-flow stance.
Well, I'm the one asking for resources, but since I haven't received any yet
but I have received several "me-too"s, I'll say that I am thus far using
WordNet (http://www.cogsci.princeton.edu/~wn/) and getting a little
direction.
WordNet describes itself as:
"... an online lexical reference system whose design is inspired by current
psycholinguistic theories of human lexical memory. English nouns, verbs,
adjectives and adverbs are organized into synonym sets, each representing
one underlying lexical concept. Different relations link the synonym sets."
Hope that helps other souls out there struggling to be marketing friendly!
P.S., Don't worry, Dick, there will be several "real" marketing people
reading this copy.
Dannette Thompson
Senior Technical Writer
dthompson -at- foundationsoft -dot- com
Foundation Software, Inc.
800-246-0800 ext. 213
The #1 Accounting Software for Labor-Intensive Contractors
-----Original Message-----
From: Dick Margulis [mailto:margulis -at- fiam -dot- net]
Easy to use? I think you're okay there. Easy by itself? It depends. A
manufacturer of garden implements probably wouldn't want to describe a
hoe as easy, for example ;-)
In general with marketing and advertising copy, you want a peer or an
editor to read everything you write, preferably someone whose mind is
usually in the gutter, to search for unintended double meanings (been
there, done that, didn't get fired but got threatened). Cultural
connotations of common words change so fast that I doubt any reference
work would really do what you want. I think you just need someone with a
good ear to review what you write.
