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I worked on control system standards for a large food manufacturer. One of
the programmers had written a paragraph that used the word OR as a verb, as
in "OR the two sections of the program." He insisted that he couldn't think
of any better way to say it. He told me he often used AND as a verb, too.
-Karen
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+kmurri=comcast -dot- net -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+kmurri=comcast -dot- net -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of
Yvette, Denoga
Sent: Wednesday, October 04, 2006 10:13 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Weird words
Hi,
I've been reading the posts here for some time and I just wanted to share
something I noticed when I spend too many long hours editing. It's amazing
how people can actually invent words or meanings of words, and use them in
their day-to-day stuff. I've encountered some words that have been so
ingrained in their vocabulary that it seems almost futile to correct, as far
as I am concerned. But of course, since you know it's wrong, well, it can
sometimes be downright irritating.
Here's a couple of words I've encountered way too often in other emails or
old documentation:
(1) Updation - What the??? Other than the fact that there is no such word in
any dictionary, I was suprised at how many people really use this word in
formal documents and correspondences. Maybe they think it's like "deletion".
Uh, no it isn't!
(2) Revert - This is my all-time favorite. Some people say things like, "For
any issues, please revert to me". I looked it up on m-w.com and revert is
(a) to come or go back (as to a FORMER condition, period, or
subject) (b) to return to the proprietor or his or her heirs at the end of a
reversion. It is not 'answer', 'reply' or even 'follow up'. Revert means
going back to an original condition, so replying is not going back to the
original condition. Some even dare to shorten it to "vert" ("can you 'vert
that please?"). Huh??
So what weird words have you come across?
yvette :)
(...who is so relieved she can talk about things like these here...)
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