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Subject:Re: Punctuation tips (not that you need them!) From:Bob Gembey <bob -at- SUPERNOVA -dot- NL> Date:Thu, 3 Jun 1999 12:49:25 +0200
1. Would it be possible to create a style guide that would be appropriate
for, say, both the instruction manual for computer software and for a VCR?
2. If the purpose of a style guide is to cover spelling and punctuation,
I'm not interested. I have a dictionary and a grammar book. I suspect a
style guide will cover other issues, which may differ both across national
and industry boundaries.
3. To paraphrase that old chestnut, 260 million Americans can't be wrong.
Then again, neither can 60 million British. Maybe it's not about right or
wrong. After all, wasn't it that American singer Tina Turner, who sang the
text written by that British singer Lulu, "I don't care who's wrong or
right, I don't want to fight no more"
(did an Englishwoman really write "fight _no_ more"?).
4. My European readership, BTW, prefers American style -- that's what
they've told me.