On 1/14/2012 1:00 PM, Nick Sabalausky wrote:
"Walter Bright"<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
You and I are going to disagree on this.
Dosn't the reader mean "The reader and I are going to disagree on this"? ;)
(only j/k, of course. Although I have always hated when authors say "the
reader" instead of "you" which is what was obviously meant anyway. I just
sounds bad. I always read it as a clear sign the author was trying *way* too
hard to be "correct".)
I agree with your comment about "the reader" being pretentious.
As for my use of "you" there, I was talking specifically to Jonathan. That's
different from writing a tech manual. Wearing jeans is appropriate in a
conversation.
But I will add that excessive use of "you" in technically minded books
tends to, in my mind, reduce the book a grade in quality.
The key there is "excessive use", not "any use". Eliminating excessive use
of "you" certainly improves the quality. But compulsively eliminating "you",
at best, makes the text sound pedantic, at worst, decreases the quality.
Either way, compulsively eliminating it leads to pointless contrivances and
awkward euphemisms like "the reader".
The steps are:
Novice: follow the rules because you're told to
Master: follow the rules because you understand the rules
Guru: break the rules because you know the limits of the rules
