Re: You VS One

[Geoff Lane <geoff -at- gjctech -dot- co -dot- uk>]

On Thursday, June 5, 2008, Keith Hansen wrote;

> Back long ago (the Victorian era?), "one" was used in such situations
> instead of "you." Today, outside of very formal writing (such as an
> academic paper), does anyone still advocate using "one" instead of
> "you"? 
---

Only in America does one use "one" instead of "you". "One" is a
generic person that includes first and third persons, i.e. substituted
for "we and they", or "they and I". So, if you're addressing the
reader, "you" has always been correct.

Occurrences of the first person in technical writing are limited,
which limits the times when we can legitimately use "one" in technical
documentation. Even when "one" is correct it's often clearer to use
the name of the group, e.g. "voters", and so it's rare to see "one" in
technical writing.

JMHO,

-- 
Geoff

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