Date: Sat, 31 May 2003 08:41:38 +1000 From: Sue Blake <sue@welearn.com.au> To: Matthew Hunt <mph@astro.caltech.edu> Cc: chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: grammar Message-ID: <20030531084138.R33085@welearn.com.au> In-Reply-To: <20030530221619.GA41668@wopr.caltech.edu>; from mph@astro.caltech.edu on Fri, May 30, 2003 at 03:16:19PM -0700 References: <3ECD3A8C.1040506@potentialtech.com> <00ae01c32668$2ff5ad70$2441d5cc@nitanjared> <20030531072026.O33085@welearn.com.au> <20030530213625.GA41089@wopr.caltech.edu> <20030531080645.Q33085@welearn.com.au> <20030530221619.GA41668@wopr.caltech.edu>
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On Fri, May 30, 2003 at 03:16:19PM -0700, Matthew Hunt wrote:
> On Sat, May 31, 2003 at 08:06:45AM +1000, Sue Blake wrote:
>
> > Tell me, how would you follow the following (hypothetical) instruction?
> >
> > In case you run out of memory, don't run all of the programs together.
> >
> > Is it something to do as a precaution, or a response to take when
> > an unlikely situation occurs? I would read it as a precaution and
> > make a workplace rule that we must follow it.
>
> I suppose I would read it the same way, although the sentence strikes
> me as odd for some reason. I can't remember ever coming across a written
> instruction in the "In case X do Y" format, and evidently there's a good
> reason people don't write that way. I think it's because of the "In case"
> being at the start of the sentence instead of the end, but I can't put my
> finger on it.
>
> Do you know the national origin of this documentation? Was it generally
> satisfactory otherwise? I'm wondering if it was written by a non-native
> speaker.
I'm not sure. His English is otherwise excellent, but it could be
his second language, and I'd rather not reveal his identity.
Many people in the USA have used this documentation without problems,
so it's likely that their language can accept his meaning whereas
ours cannot. It is also possible that most people who read the
documentation are hacker types who know what it will say before
they read it so they don't dwell on the exact meaning of words.
FWIW I have seen ambiguous use of "in case" occasionally in our
man pages, and quite often in documents written by people whose
first language is German. When I read the man pages, because I
already have a good understanding, I can guess what to do. If I
were floundering then it would be difficult to understand, or
confident misinterpretation would easy.
Over time I have learned to grit my teeth and guess the intended
meaning without complaint, but sometimes my guess has been wrong.
I started blaming myself, until the mutiny at work.
The correctness or otherwise, and national differences, is
something we should sort out for its own sake. However, in the
particular case of the use of the documentation I mentioned, we
have a clear demonstration of its failure to communicate with even
IT-smart users. After all, that is the purpose of documentation.
I had a room full of staff politely protesting in unison
that it said unambiguously that you must take this precaution.
When it comes to documentation, anything that fails to
communicate the correct user action is wrong, and nothing else
can override that if you want the system to work.
--
Regards,
-*Sue*-
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