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.
----- Original Message -----
From: Kevin Feeman <Kevin -dot- Feeman -at- micromass -dot- com>
To: TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Sent: Friday, November 19, 1999 9:43 AM
Subject: would you?
> In writing a manual, a colleague suggested using the word "unsaved" for
> talking about files that have not been saved. Is unsaved really a word. It
> seems a little funny to me. I looked it up, and the word is for being
> "saved" as in Christianity.
>
> I had the following:
>
> CopyWriter will prompt the user to save any edited files that have not
been
> saved before the program closes.
>
> She suggested:
>
> CopyWriter will prompt the user to save any edited, unsaved files before
the
> program closes.
>
> I just wanted to make sure that unsaved is proper in this context.
I don't like "unsaved," not because of the quasi-religious connotation, but
because I share George Orwell's objection to the "un-noun" construction.
Your version of the sentence strikes me as more elegant.
Just my $.02.
Sam
Salvatore "Sam" Falco
Senior Technical Writer
In.vision Research Corporation
Saint Petersburg, FL, USA
sfalco -at- invisiondev -dot- com
