Re[2]: Bizarre verbs

[Iain Harrison <iharrison -at- SCT -dot- CO -dot- UK>]

     Fred Rudder says:

     >>
     If an architect devises a design for a building and calls that process
     "designing", why isn't it valid for an engineer who devises or defines an
     architecture for a technical system to refer to that process as
     "architecting"?
     <<

     I don't want to get into the rather pointless discussion about semantics,
     but want to focus on what exactly we are naming: The task or the product.

     If an architect designs a building and calls it designing, why isn't is
     valid for an engineer why designs a system to call it designing?

     If we start to define the function by the product, the architect isn't
     designing, she is 'walling', 'roofing', or to take a more generic view, she
     is 'building'. (And yes, most of the architects I know are female.)

     The engineer in your example is devising or defining, not architecting.

     A comment to the whole of this subject: Here in the UK, the architect
     doesn't just draw the plans. The architect is generally also responsible
     for overseeing the building works, as far as I know.

     Iain

                  TECHWR-L List Information
To send a message about technical communication to 2500+ list readers,
E-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot-  Send administrative commands
         ALL other questions or problems concerning the list
       should go to the listowner, Eric Ray, at ejray -at- ionet -dot- net -dot-