TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Comments on Bill Burns and Suzanne Lee's messages
I don't think the phrase vice versa will create such a big trouble for the ESL
readers. If we assume that our audience is able to read our works, then they
are, based on my experiences, able to know the meaning of phrases like vice
versa, i.e., etc., etc. If we assume that the ESL readers have a hard time
figuring out the meanings of those terms, then we must also assume that they
have a hard time figuring out the meaning of the entire writing. Then why
bother to writing for the ESL readers?
As to the suggestions made by Bill, I think they are goog ones. But the
difficulty, as I take it, does not lie in whether there is a corresponding
English (I mean the non-borrowed) term for it. Instead, the difficulty is
whether the native language of an ESL reader has a corresponding concept for
vice versa. If it doesn't, then the readers will really have a hard time. So,
in a sense, Bill has made a good suggestion.
