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Subject:Re: Using Humor Judiciously From:Martyn Thirlway <thirlwaym -at- USOFT -dot- NL> Date:Tue, 21 May 1996 11:23:00 PDT
Eric asked:
----------
|I'd be interested in hearing comments from anyone
|about judicious use of humor in documentation
|or books.
I hate humour in technical and user manuals - I usually don't find it funny,
and I think it destroys the writer's credibility. When I open an instruction
book, I want instructions, not attempts at entertainment. One example from a
speech software package was "The Librarian. Yes, we know it sounds like
Conan the Barbarian, but..." Or how about "Pull up a screen and follow..."
And what happens in translation? A translator has a bad day, and bingo -
complete nonsense!
Martyn Thirlway
thirlwaym -at- usoft -dot- nl
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