A User or An User?

["Will Husa" <Will -dot- Husa -at- 4techwriter -dot- com>]

One of my clients may be confused on the use of "a vs an" when it comes to 
IT technical terms. The Associated Press Stylebook 2004 recommends that you 
use "a" before a word that sounds like a consonant. (A one-user license 
sounds like "a won you sir license.") Whereas, "an" should be used before a 
word that sounds like a vowel. (An NBA record sounds like "an en bee a 
record.")

I've been using "a User" in my manuals. In your manuals, do you refer to the 
user as "a User" or "an User?"

Thanks,

Will
=========================================
Will Husa
Technical Writer
Procedure Writing and Online Help
Phone: 708-927-3569
Fax: 630-668-9283
Website: www.4techwriter.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Collin Turner" <straylightsghost -at- gmail -dot- com>
To: "Milan Davidovic" <milan -dot- lists -at- gmail -dot- com>; <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 11:24 AM
Subject: Re: Tech Writer Lawsuit?


> Wow.
>
> You know, I've been a Non-Exempt Tech Writer several times. Each time it 
> was
> simply because I pressed the issue. Each time I was told to "keep it 
> quiet"
> because I was the only person (writer, developer, engineer, etc.) being 
> paid
> in that manner.
>
> If overtime is needed (and it's only required maybe 30% of the time in my
> experience if the company is well managed) then this should not be an 
> issue.
>
> If the company is constantly in a hole, then there's trouble. It's often
> large companies (again, in my experience) that have this incredible 
> Overtime
> Debt and have pathetic management. That's where the abuse has occurred 
> (that
> I've seen).
>
> As the article points out, Labor laws are *out of date*. This is simply
> something that needs to happen. It will change things, yes. But we're just
> at that stage. The same thing is happening with Telecommuting right now -
> just on a smaller scale. The landscape of how we work and what our careers
> are is going to be a bit different in the coming decade.
>
> -Collin
>
> On Tue, May 27, 2008 at 9:59 AM, Milan Davidovic <milan -dot- lists -at- gmail -dot- com>
> wrote:
>
>> On Tue, May 27, 2008 at 10:16 AM, Hemstreet, Deborah
>> <DHemstreet -at- kaydon -dot- com> wrote:
>> > Since when is it "standard practice" to expect technical writers to 
>> > work
>> > as indicated in this article?
>>
>> When they are full-time employees of the company, it appears.
>>
>> --
>> Milan Davidovic
>> http://altmilan.blogspot.com
>> http://stctorcomp.blogspot.com
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Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
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