Never mind. I didn't want to upset anyone or receive ad-hominems on the subject. I just wanted to discuss precision of verbiage in technical communication, or something along those lines.
If, as a tech writer in your documentation, you define things, such as winter in this case, as "you know it when you see it," and your audience is good with that, then you succeeded. I guess it boils down to rule number one (as always): know thine audience! Cheers. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Brierley, Sean Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2006 11:48 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [TCP] CNET Editor Death Caused byaTechnicalCommunicationMistake? That's the discussion I wanted. I disagree. I believe in technical documentation, especially when life and limb are threatened, that you have to be as precise as possible. Winter weather is not governed by a calendar, but IMO the season of winter is defined by a calendar. And, if your technical documentation uses the term "winter," does that not indicate the season unless it is used as an adjective? So, is the road closed in the winter, in winter weather, or when the first snowfall occurs? DISCLAIMER: Important Notice ************************************************* This e-mail may contain information that is confidential, privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not an intended recipient of this e-mail, do not duplicate or redistribute it by any means. Please delete it and any attachments and notify the sender that you have received it in error. Unintended recipients are prohibited from taking action on the basis of information in this e-mail.E-mail messages may contain computer viruses or other defects, may not be accurately replicated on other systems, or may be intercepted, deleted or interfered with without the knowledge of the sender or the intended recipient. If you are not comfortable with the risks associated with e-mail messages, you may decide not to use e-mail to communicate with IPC. IPC reserves the right, to the extent and under circumstances permitted by applicable law, to retain, monitor and intercept e-mail messages to and from its systems. ______________________________________________ Are you a Help Authoring Trainer or Consultant? Let clients find you at www.HAT.Matrix.com, the searchable HAT database based on Char James-Tanny's HAT Comparison Matrix. Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] for details. Interested in Interactive 3D Documentation? Get the scoop at http://www.doc-u-motion.com -- your 3D documentation community. _______________________________________________ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
