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Subject:Re: redundancy/hot coffe, etc. From:Joe Fockler <jfockler -at- IPHASE -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 8 Dec 1994 11:34:45 -0600
Laurie Rubin writes:
+ Point in fact -- the lady who spilled hot coffee that SHE placed between her
+ knees while driving is actually getting hundreds of thousands of dollars and
+ McDonald's must print something about "hot coffee" or "will burn" on its cups.
+ (I guess I take some responsibility for my stupidity and that's why I never
+ sue and get rich off it! Another thread elsewhere...)
+ Back to the matter, if I was the writer on the project, I, too, would clearly
+ state what is meant by complete control. In fact, I would leave out "complete
+ control" and just say:\
+ "Always operate at speeds that allow you to maneuver safely and easily (or
+ quickly) stop in case of an emergency."
Typically, it's the people who don't or won't read the instructions,
cautions, warnings, etc. that injure themselves.
There was a lawsuit filed on behalf of a man who dove off of a garage
roof into a swimming pool (the pool owner was not at home) and
became paralyzed. He successfully sued the pool manufacturer because the
the pool did not have a "warning" posted that could be read from the
garage roof where the man jumped.
+
+ Laurie
+ Laurie Rubin
+ lmr -at- syl -dot- nj -dot- nec -dot- com
+ NEC Systems Laboratory, Inc.
+ Princeton, NJ 08540
+ (609) 734-6017
+ > So what do you all think of this sentence? Should the material after the
+ > "slash" (/) mark be deleted? And is there ever a place for redundancy
+ > in technical writing?
+ >
+ > "Always operate at speeds that allow you to have complete control of the
+ > tractor / and can maneuver safely or stop in case of an emergency."
+ >
+ > Probably not the best sentence to begin with, but his feeling was that
+ > "complete control" would imply "maneuver safely. . . ."
+ >
+ > Pete
+ > -----------------------------------
+ > Pete Praetorius ,--O
+ > ppraeto -at- hubcap -dot- clemson -dot- edu _ \<,_
+ > ppraeto -at- clemson -dot- clemson -dot- edu (_)/ (_)
--
Joe Fockler "There are no responsible parties in our
Interphase Corporation society any longer, only victims."
Dallas, Texas 75234 -- Don Hodel
jfockler -at- iphase -dot- com "I'm so far ahead of myself, I say things
I haven't even thought of yet."
-- Cynthia Tobias
"That's BULL, substance abuse isn't a
disease, it's a WEAKNESS."
-- Tommy Lasorda
