Re: "It Ain't Literature, Y'know"

[David Dvorkin <ddvorki -at- USWEST -dot- COM>]

 Friedlander_Tori <torif -at- KSL -dot- CO -dot- IL> wrote:

>      Before I ask my question, I want to say that I am new to this list and
>      I'm not at all sure that this is the proper forum.

Yes, it's the proper forum.

>      My problem is this:  yesterday, I pointed out to a co-worker that I
>      thought the sentence structure he was using in a particular procedure
>      was incorrect.

>      situation.  He said that if he wrote,

>                         Pound the nail into the wall with a hammer.

>      someone might use their head to pound the nail with rather than read
>      to the end of the sentence.  Instead, he prefers to write:

>                         Using a hammer, pound the nail into the wall.
>                         or
>                         Using columnar spacers, place the ....

>      Whether his sentence structure is correct or not, is one issue.  For

Your colleague's contempt for his readers' intelligence is remarkable!
Nonetheless, the second version of his sentence really is clearer than the
first.  And it's grammatically correct.  What do you think is wrong with it?

>      me, the more important point was his statement, "this ain't
>      literature, you know."  Its not the first time he's said it either.

Not much you can do about that attitude.


David Dvorkin
ddvorki -at- uswest -dot- com

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