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Subject:Re: Responsible use of Obviously From:Faith Weber <weber -at- EASI -dot- ENET -dot- DEC -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 12 Oct 1993 09:54:28 PDT
I agree that "obviously" is an irritant. To me, statements like this
come across as very condescending: "This concept is quite obvious,
but since you, the reader, are so incredibly ignorant/stupid/dull-
witted/whatever, I suppose I will have to mention it anyhow."
If the reader is confused by a passage that begins with "Obviously,..."
he or she will probably be annoyed with the writer and/or
discouraged about the material. This makes it that much harder for
the reader to focus on learning -- which should be the point.
