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.
Re: Prepend? If it's not in the dictionary, just say no!
Subject:Re: Prepend? If it's not in the dictionary, just say no! From:Hollister Technical Services <Holtec -at- COMITY -dot- DEMON -dot- CO -dot- UK> Date:Sun, 16 May 1999 16:19:57 +0100
In article <m10iLst-000BNAC -at- mail -dot- GTS -dot- ORG>, Geoff Hart <Geoff-
h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA> writes
>Steven Ward observes that <<I can't find 'prepend' as a word,
...
>As a rule of thumb, if you can't find a certain word in a
>common, low-end dictionary, I recommend avoiding the
>word because any of your readers who doesn't already know
>the word won't be able to find the word and figure out what it
>means.
<snip>
I was recently reading a very highly respected book on technical writing
and came to the word 'disambiguate'. It was quite clear to me what it
meant -- to remove the ambiguity from. I had never come across the word
before, not surprising since it is not part of the (commonly spoken)
English language. On checking a copy of Webster's dictionary I found the
word and it means what I thought it did. So it is a perfectly good
American word understandable by those unfortunate enough not to speak
fluent American.
If you can use words in such a fashion that the intended reader or
listener understands then you have succeeded regardless of whose
dictionary you use.
--
Peter Jones
e-mail Holtec -at- comity -dot- demon -dot- co -dot- uk
