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This reminds me of a piece passed along to me from someone who formerly
worked for a large nationally known engineering firm. Someone at said firm
had gone to a great deal of effort to create a bogus manual for a mysterious
piece of equipment something like the reciprocating press described above.
It perfectly conformed to the company's formal manual style but contained
much bitter humor, inside jokes, and great examples of the worst cliches of
technical writing: font fondling; convoluted explanations of the theory of
operation that had nothing to do with the actual operation of the product;
incomprehensible but authentic jargon (mixed with Shakespearean references,
naturally).
Except for the unusual content, the manual was practically indistinguishable
from the company's official manuals. It was also a firing offense to be
found in possession of one.
