On 2/19/2011 10:05 PM, David Nelson wrote:
Hi, :-)
Yes, we had the discussion about what variety of Engish to use a while
back. The consensus at the time was US spelling and terminology.
IMHO, one of the biggest aids to comprehensibility is careful and
thoughtful punctation.
But I also try not to be lazy in my English and to be careful about
relative pronouns [1] and subordinating conjunctions [2].
One good idea, as suggested by Barbara or Hal, is to build-up a
separate and brief glossary of terminology explaining our conventions.
It could be useful to end users but it would especially be an aid for
translators.
As I mentioned previously, "activate" and "deactivate" are terms I use
a lot, but I do tend to vary my vocabulary so that the style isn't too
stilted and wooden. I generally attribute two ha'porth of common sense
to the reader.
My 2 cents...
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relative_pronoun
[2] http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000377.htm
David Nelson
Be advised that standard US English is somewhat fussy--especially in
legalese--in its "that/who/which" usage, whereas UK English is not. One
tip is that "which" is typically preceded by a comma, but "that" is not.
The reasons to use one or the other word simply will become better
understood after seeing them employed in actual practice--assuming that
the authors did them OK. "who" also employs declensions--whom, whose--as
a remnant of English being originally derived from German.
/
The Chicago Manual of Style/ is a decent style guide for most
US-publishing grammar and punctuation issues, in addition to US
terminology. The current edition (15th) is its first version to address
IT usage as it applies to publishing. Copies (new or used) can be
purchased very cheaply via Amazon. [I got mine years ago for half price
via a promotion at Amazon, plus no S&H costs.]
Gary
--
Gary Schnabl
Southwest Detroit, two miles NORTH! of Canada--Windsor, that is...
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