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Subject:Re: Grammar and usage From:Vicki Rosenzweig <murphy!acmcr!vr -at- UUNET -dot- UU -dot- NET> Date:Thu, 22 Dec 1994 12:10:59 EST
"He wiped his nose with a tissue" is fine, but I'd like to be able
to write "don't take too much Tylenol" and then explain that the
generic is acetominophen, rather than put "acetominophen" in the
headline, lose readers who haven't heard of this drug and thus are
sure the warning doesn't apply to them, and explain in the body
of the story that acetominophen is commonly marketed as Tylenol.
OK, so it's not _strictly_ a technical writing question, but it
is an example from today's newspaper (_Newsday_ got around this
one by putting "pain pill" in the headline--which ought to get
anyone who takes any kind of painkiller to at least look at the
story--and then "Tylenol and other brands of acetominophen" in
the first line of the story, but I'm not sure how I'd handle it
on the radio.)
Vicki Rosenzweig
vr%acmcr -dot- uucp -at- murphy -dot- com
New York, NY
