Re: Contractions&NonEnglishReaders

[Daniel John Brinegar <6545 -at- EF -dot- GC -dot- MARICOPA -dot- EDU>]

> Author  : Ron Miller <RSMH -at- AOL -dot- COM>
> Subject : Re: Contractions
> Written : 04/06/95.05:52am

> I too have heard the old rule that contractions are not allowed in tech
   [snip]>
> If you want to set an informal tone in your manuals, I say, "go for it." It's
> not as if using contractions is some bold step that's never been tried
> before. If you think it will help your readers relate better to the material,
> then by all means do it. If we blindly follow these rules, we will never
> experiment and find ways to improve the way we communicate with our
> audiences.

> Ron


Just as I got done cutting-and-pasting a whole buncha simple procedures into a
quickie User's Guide, I come over here and realize that I'd used a *lot* of
contractions in them: trying to get thr passive engineerese translated
into direct, active style.... Now I'm suddenly concerned that since the
immediate audience for this guide will be local managing engineers in
places like Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, I'm wondering if I need to
"extract" them.... I recall that HK Business English avoids contracdions,
but know that they are used to working with Americans...
But what about KLM?


Regards,
Dan'l

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