TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Here are my edits:
"If you have a technical emergency and your area's Technical
Support Specialist is not available, leave voice mail describing
the problem. Contact the Support Desk if you receive no response
in 30 minutes."
It's more concise, anyway.
For reference, the original follows, erroneously using the
plural pronoun to avoid the he/she dilemma.
Kathy (still arguing that Phila is right and workarounds are
easy!)
"If you have a technical emergency and your area's
Technical Support Specialist is not available, leave a
message describing the problem on their voice mail.
If they do not return your call within 30 minutes,
contact the Support Desk."
The reader would certainly notice (and most likely be
distracted by it) if I were to use the phrase
"Technical Support Specialist" three times within that
short paragraph.
Otherwise, I use the second person when describing
what the user will be doing with our software.
Thanks,
Spencer Fleury
Trader Publishing Company
===
Remember: "Y'all" is singular. "All y'all" is plural. "All
y'all's" is plural possessive.
*This message is made from 100% recycled electrons*
_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=
Send commands to listserv -at- listserv -dot- okstate -dot- edu (e.g., SIGNOFF
TECHWR-L)
