Re: Yahoo has no staff tech writers

Subject: Re: Yahoo has no staff tech writers
From: Kevin McLauchlan <kmclauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2002 14:32:50 -0400


On Thursday 10 October 2002 12:06, Jeff Hanvey wrote:

> Moreover, it is the writer's job to stress more than the
> average person over grammar - after all, s/he needs to
> make sure the language is accessible to his/her audience.

I'm not QUITE prepared to make poor grammar a capital
offence, but it's right up there.

My first reaction, upon encountering fractured grammar
and spelling in technical or business documents, is a
provisional downgrade of my estimation of the writer,
the document content, and the company that let this
happen. While that decision/reaction is still provisional,
I try to find evidence that the writer is not a native
speaker. That's so that I can justify cutting some slack.

If I fail to find that evidence, then my immediate response
is to make that lowered estimation permanent. Right
away, they've got to win back my trust, and it's gonna
be an uphill battle.

The professional face that you present to the world is the
best you've got. If that was your best, then I'm looking
for another supplier.

And with that in mind, I failed, the other night, to escape
a news broadcast, before hearing a portion of GW Bush's
address to his nation. I was trapped in grizly fascination
as the man repeated "newk-yoo-lur" some twenty times.

Prez George is surrounded by advisors and handlers and
speech-writers and publicists and other spin-doctors...
couldn't ONE of them have told "the leader of the free
world" how to pronounce "nuclear"? For that matter, do
any of his most trusted even know how, themselves?

Or did I fail to realize that I was getting the version
that was directed at the yokel audience?

I can just see Tony Blair wincing every time he hears
GW say "newk-yoo-lur", the Brit reserve crumbling a
little, as he wonders: "Should I tell Georgie that his
fly is open?"

Of course, my own maximum leader (one King Jean Chretien)
ain't no prize either, but he has an excuse. But then, I
have no respect for him... hmm.

Nobody should be obsessing about grammar, spelling,
pronunciation. Just do it correctly. If you *have* to
obsess over it, you are probably in the wrong business.
Readers/listeners of even moderate sophistication won't
obsess either. They'll just hear/read something
uncomfortable or grating, and automatically lower
their opinion of the source. They'll feel just a smidgen
of distrust for the technical or logical, or persuasive
content of what they are reading, based on the sub-standard
way in which it is presented.

Critical evaluators who control order books often seem
to feel that "good enough" is not quite good enough in
enterprise-critical situations. Maybe they should search
a little further, for a supplier who knows what quality
means.

/kevin (north of /n/e/w/k/y/o/o/l/u/r/ the 49th)


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Re: Yahoo has no staff tech writers: From: Jeff Hanvey

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