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Subject:Should, etc. From:Mike Christie <mikec -at- SYNTEL -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 3 Jun 1994 09:03:37 PDT
Dan Dieterich writes:
>> If I were to write "You should enter the correct password," I'm employing a
>> strong tone, but the sentence itself is still just a statement--not a
>> command. If I had to defend what I wrote in a court of law one day,
>> I'd prefer to defend commands that are commands--not statements.
No to mention the fact that the user could read the statement as "I can enter
my password, but I really don't have to if I don't want to." End users have
done much stranger things, as the recent posting decribing the trials and
tribulations of technical support staff attested.
Mike Christie
Technical Writer
Syntelligence Systems, Inc.
mikec -at- syntel -dot- com
