On Sun, 7 Apr 2013 12:07:55 -0400, John Sgammato <john.sgammato at actifio.com> wrote:
>As for the use of the subjunctive, it is now and has always been the case >that while correct usage has many advantages it can sound "hifalutin' ". >You must consider the consumers of your information product, and the SMEs >you rely upon. > >When an earnest Chinese engineer at my last job asked me about the use of >the subjunctive mood, I counseled him to learn it for his own mastery of >the language, but in his everyday use it would never be necessary. Not only >do people understand you when you misuse esoteric grammar - they may think >you are just being an obnoxious smarty-pants. Our goal is clear >communication first. And thus, to avoid being "hifalutin' ", we return to the original Tech Writers' Motto, which I had on my office wall in 1960: "Cacography Did Cheap" ;-) -- Jeremy H. Griffith, at Omni Systems Inc. <jeremy at omsys.com> http://mif2go.com/
