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> Lisa wrote:
>
> "For the most part, users aren't too concerned with prescriptive grammar
> issues. "The window displays" is a nice, short direct way of
> getting the point across to the reader. There's nothing wrong with
> that."
>
Doug Replied:
> I am one user who is concerned with prescriptive grammar issues. Anyone
> who goes by the title of Technical Writer should be concerned with these
> issues. A writer who cares little for correct English is like a bus
> driver who cares little for the vehicle code or a baker who cares little
> about the difference between baking powder and baby powder.
>
> When I read "The dialog box displays" in a user guide, I lose all
> confidence in the guide, and its author's ability to help me. I lose a
> measure of confidence in the manufacturer. For one thing, they employed
> an untrained writer and stamped "Technical Writer" on his or her
> business card. Since my business card says the same thing, that
> manufacturer cheapens my profession and makes light of my years of hard
> work and experience. What other dumb things have they done?
>
> I used to pitch badly-written manuals into the trash, but now I save
> them to use as examples of what not to do.
>
> Doug Parr
>
OH PULEEZE!!! A Technical Writer's use of "The dialog box displays"
destroys the confidence in the product and the manufacturer??? It may not be
the best grammatical way to describe the event, but will a typical software
jockey learning a new application really care? I don't see how this
statement will confuse the average user. I'll venture a guess that most of
them expect to see the dialog box somewhere on their monitor. I've seen
users toss a manual because it was not technically correct but have yet to
see one toss it (and the product) because of prescriptive grammatical flaws.
Other Technical Writers may toss the manual because, hey, "No other writer
merits the title nor writes up our own standards". Right? ;^)
Therefore, if understanding our audience is of primary importance and our
audience may not recognize that this phrase is not grammatically correct,
then I believe that it is other Technical Writers who take umbrage with the
phrasing. To the user, it is an unnoticeable or very minor flaw. To other
Technical Writers, it is ammunition for their pop guns so that they can
assert, "No one is a real Technical Writer save I".
