Re: Messages . . .

[Andrew Shires <andrews -at- HARLEQUIN -dot- CO -dot- UK>]

  A few further notes on the `pedantry' debate I have unwittingly
sparked, and in which I've become an effigy.

  The point that we may or may not have a professional image to uphold
on a profession-orientated forum is the only thing in which I'm
interested.  The communication of information through degraded writing
isn't at the centre of this debate.  It is a perfectly valid point
that we can all tolerate errors and still extract the correct
information.  However, this isn't the attitude we take in our work,
and I feel that I should move some of my professional baggage into our
discussions (we do, after all, discuss such matters as clear
communication and correctness).  I don't freak out when I see
illegible, illiterate postings _anywhere_ on the net.

  Though I agree that the net is about speedy communication, not
making classic literature, I have a feeling that random subscribers
might naturally expect slightly better English on this list than
others.

  Of course, it's no business of mine to _tell_ people to do anything,
and I haven't: but some responses have implied, ridiculously, that I
demand perfection (not that I would know it if I saw it), that I
endorse net-pedantry, and that I am on a mission from an ivory tower
to clean up the dirty old world.  This is serving to evade my
original, very specific point, by forming a caricature of it.

  If anything, this whole debate shows again that there are is no grey
in net discussion, only black and white.  A list-specific point,
expressed while agreeing with September that the function of the list
is to discuss technical communication, not play at pedantry, has been
portrayed as a crusade against the net as a whole, even ordinary
people.

  I thank those who've discussed the point I made.  I agree with Chuck
Petch that people who judge us for minor errors are being unrealistic.
My concern is simply that they'll be out there -- and that, for some
people on the list, credibility in the workplace is a luxury they are
having to fight for.  Not for me -- not a selfish request -- just an
acknowledgement that we could make it easier for them.  It all starts
by accepting criticism positively, and realising that we all continue
to learn.



Andrew Shires                                           Harlequin Ltd.,
Technical Author                                        Barrington Hall,
                                                        Barrington,
andrews -at- harlequin -dot- co -dot- uk                                 Cambridge,
andrews -at- harlequin -dot- com                                   ENGLAND.