Re: what do you think?

["Lynda Simons" <lynda.simons@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm not at all sure about "hitability" and "selectability" because this is
the first time I have seen these words, I think,  but I have given
"visibility" thought as it was a popular buzzword at a place where I used to
work.

The problem with "visibility" is that it is ambiguous. Does it mean "able to
see" or "able to be seen"? I would come out of meetings puzzling over what I
had just been told when the message was, "The problem with this project is
lack of visibility." Was the problem that we couldn't see where we were
headed or that no-one know the project existed? Often it was both...but
that's another story.

I suspect the same applies to the other two nominalizations. Generally
speaking, nominalizations weaken the writer's message. As Mark says, I have
no real idea what the writer might mean, but does he mean this perhaps?
"With ACE, users define how they will view, hit, and select objects." To
translate, I had to guess who the actor might be. Will the same users who do
the defining be doing the viewing, hitting, and selecting?

I have no problem with invented words if they make the meaning crystal
clear. Shakespeare did it all the time. However, not too many of us have
Shakespeare's talent.

My 2 cents.

Lynda

=============================
Lynda Simons
Technical Communications Consultant
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Voice (Algonquin College): (613) 727-4723; ext. 5902
Voice (home office): (613) 526-0899
Fax: (613) 526-2179
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Barratt <markb@textmatters.com>
To: Sonja Waller (SWUS) <Sonja.Waller@smallworld-us.com>
Cc: Framers@FrameUsers.com <Framers@FrameUsers.com>; framers@omsys.com
<framers@omsys.com>
Date: April 28, 1999 7:14 PM
Subject: Re: what do you think?


>Obviously they are words. If you understand what he means they are useful
>words (though maybe not useful in something like a manual which relies on
>widely shared understanding - I haven't the faintest idea what they are
>supposed to mean).
>
>A story:
>
>Years ago I had a client (company), run and largely owned by its founder,
>whose word was law among his several thousand employees.
>
>One day he announced that he was sick of hearing about problems with
>projects. It represented bad attitude. All problems, with the right
>attitude, could be seen as opportunities, and he wanted his people to
>understand that. No problems, just opportunities.
>
>He was a man who stalked corridors and cafeterias, and fired people he'd
>never met before for inscrutable or trivial reasons.
>
>Pretty soon the word 'problem' has disappeared from internal conversation.
>
>One day I get a call from my client (person) asking me to run over for an
>urgent meeting. 'I think we may have an insoluble opportunity,' he said.
>
>
>____________
>Mark Barratt
>Text Matters
>   Information design: we help explain things using
>   language, design, system and process improvement
>+44 (0)118 986 8313
>http://www.textmatters.com
>markb@textmatters.com
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Sonja Waller (SWUS) <Sonja.Waller@smallworld-us.com>
>To: framers@FrameUsers.com <framers@frameusers.com>
>Sent: 28 April 1999 23:00
>Subject: what do you think?
>
>
>> Hello,
>> Okay, I'm on a new job and one of my clients always uses the words,
>> hitability and selectability. Are they words??? I looked them up in the
>> dictionary, but they are not listed. What's your opinion? BTW, here's his
>> sentence:
>>
>> "With ACE, users define the initial visibility, hitability, or
>selectability
>> of objects and the attributes."
>>
>> Your opinions are greatly valued. Thanks.
>>
>>
>> Sonja Waller
>> Sr. Technical Writer
>> Smallworld Systems, Inc.
>> Communications Business Unit
>>
>> TEL: 303.268-6163
>> FAX: 303.779-9945
>>
>> Email:
>> sonja.waller@smallworld-us.com
>>
>>
>>
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