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Subject:RE: Friday Poll Idea (WAS: In love with a word) From:"Dan Goldstein" <DGoldstein -at- riverainmedical -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Fri, 6 Jan 2006 10:23:33 -0500
"Automagically..." <shudder> The first time I saw that so-called word in
an old RoboHelp manual, I almost pitched the book through a window.
Fortunately, I was underground at the time.
Wiki once suggested this definition: "Refers to a process done
automatically in such a clever way that the result looks like magic. The
term is a portmanteau and can also be used in its adverbial form as
automagically. It is drawn from the adage (often called Clarke's third
law) that any sufficiently-advanced technology is indistinguishable from
magic."
Anyone here who's documenting technology that's indistinguishable from
magic, please raise your hand.
That's what I thought.
-- Dan Goldstein
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Sandy Harris
> Sent: Friday, January 06, 2006 10:11 AM
> To: TECHWR-L
> Subject: Re: Friday Poll Idea (WAS: In love with a word)
>
> "automagically" is a handy word for describing some processes.
>
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