Drill a hole in part A and insert part B once you have ensured part C has been aligned after its connection to A.

Most people can handle reading a whole sentence to figure out what's going on. But, after a tiring day of building, it is somewhat annoying having to juggle instructions into actions.

Most readers will assume that instructions are written in linear time. Do this, then that. But that example is non-linear. What it is trying to say is:

Connect part C with part A. Then align part C and part A. Then drill the hole in part A. Then insert part B into part A.

It is slightly less interesting writing. But it presents all the actions in the order they need to be taken.

I see this temporally-mixed anti-pattern all the time. A typical example of this in technical documentation is:

Select Print from the File menu.

A simpler, clearer, and less ambiguous way of writing that is:

Open the File menu. Select Print.

Another similar example of confusing writing is:

Go to File → Print → Settings if you need to change the paper size.

Again, this places cognitive burden on the reader. If they want to understand if the instruction is relevant to them, they have to read the entire sentence. When faced with dozens of sentences, this can become confusing. The solution is:

If you want to do X, then do Y...

Immediately the reader knows that they can skip this sentence because they don't want to do X.

As technical writers, we sometimes want to craft eloquent prose. We long for glorious and intricate sentences. We tire of the monotony of linear writing.

Tough. We need to get over ourselves. Go write that epic fantasy novel you've been thinking about. The job of a technical writer isn't to entertain, enliven, or delight the reader. The job is to give them instructions in an easy to follow format, reducing the amount of cognitive burden they have, and making it quick to find the information they need.

What does the verb "to trespass" mean to you? I always thought it was the act of going somewhere prohibited or, in archaic terms, to do wrong against someone.

But over the last few days, I've started seeing it used in a wholly unexpected way:

Dr. Curiosity 💻🔬

@DrCuriosity@cloudisland.nz

@signaleleven @Edent I think "trespassing from" has come about because "ordered to leave the premises under the Trespass Act" is a bit of a mouthful.

In our context in New Zealand, it's a formal ban backed by law, and the person is committing a criminal offence by remaining in or returning to that place.

2023-06-11, 09:01 0 boosts 3 favorites

I know, I know. Language evolves. So far this neologism seems confined to NZ and USA. No doubt we'll all be using it by the end of the year.

This book asks us a simple question:

What if, instead of worrying about the “ruination” of English by young people, jargonistas, or Americans, we celebrated English for being robust enough to allow such growth and variety?

Without evolution, languages stagnate and die. Without a vast corpus of work, which responds to changing circumstances around the globe, languages can be extinguished. English is no different. Lynne Murphy makes an excellent case that English isn't the sole preserve of the English; it's now a worldwide phenomenon that allows understanding (and, sure, a little confusion) between people born thousands of miles apart.

Without a doubt, it challenged some of my prejudices.

The symptoms of amerilexicosis include irritability, obsessive behaviour, paranoia, and delusions.

Yes! Why do I sometimes snarl at "candy" or "soda"? Does it make me feel stupid when my brain takes a second to catch up? Maybe. But Murphy points out, quite rightly, that people mostly don't have that over-reaction to Indianisms and Australianisms - why? It's the power dynamics, stupid.

The British are conditioned to notice when others don’t talk like they do because accent is an inescapable marker of social position in Britain.

Aha! Yes, class comes in to it as well. What subtle signs we subconsciously pick up!

It's full of little titbits (or tidbits) sure to enrapture to language lover:

Based on its origin, pen pusher is an Americanism. Based on who says it, it’s a Britishism. This isn’t a lonely example.

There are so many words and phrases which started in the UK, fell out of fashion, became "classy" in the USA, and then got re-exported back to us - whereupon we denounced them as vulgar neologisms.

We also get a good glimpse at the various moral panics over the years. There's always someone who is terrified about the evolution of language:

Ten years ago, the pundits predicted that students would soon be submitting essays with are spelled R and great as GR8. That hasn’t happened. Young people now use smartphones that autocomplete the correct spelling. They would only type C U L8R with irony.

It is, perhaps, unintended - but the book made me think about computer programming languages. I wonder if anyone has done a serious study on how they evolve and how they let people express themselves. This passage is written about English, but it could just as easily be about Python or FORTRAN:

But wouldn’t it be great if language were logical and maximally efficient? If sentences had only as many syllables as strictly needed? If each word had a single, unique meaning? If there were no homophones, so we’d not be able to mix up dear and deer or two and too? No, absolutely not. No way. Quit even thinking that. What are you, some kind of philistine? If Shakespeare hadn’t played with the number of syllables in his sentences, he would not have been able to communicate in iambic pentameter.

I found out about this book because - get this - it cites one of my blog posts! So it gets an extra star for that.

This is a brilliant book for language lovers.