Re: GNOME Documentation Style Guide

[John Sheehan <John Sheehan Sun COM>]

A pertinent article !?

  http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/opinion/2001/0308/opt4.htm



Bill Day wrote:

>I have just joined the list, so I am writing with a little trepidation.
>Nevertheless, as a new subscriber, I was quite shocked to see that the
>Style Guide contained a prohibition on the use of the humble apostrophe.
>Granted, the use of the apostrophe to show possession is peculiar to
>English as far as I know.  However, the structure is fundamental in
>English, and as I recall it is normally introduced in first-year classes
>in English as a Second Language.
>
>The reasons, upon reflection, are obvious.  Take, for example,
>
>	O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown!
>	The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's, eye, tongue, sword;
>	The expectancy and rose of the fair state,
>	The glass of fashion and the mould of form,
>	The observed of all observers, quite, quite down!
>
>Hamlet, III.i.  Here the respective merits of the apostrophe and the
>prepositional phrase with "of," each used in its appropriate and
>idiomatic place, are quite apparent.  And while there may be a
>superficial attraction to conforming the English language to a foreign
>syntax in order to facilitate translation, it is probably offset by the
>resulting awkwardness of expression and longer-winded sentences (which
>the Style Guide limits to 25 words).  Must we dispense with the Lord's
>prayer, the lion's share, and the devil's handiwork?  Or, in a more
>technical context, the user's mouse, the computer's on/off switch, the
>keyboard's feel, the document's length, or the window's size?
>
>Ultimately, I suppose that I question the philosophy behind banishing
>the apostrophe.  It seems to me that good writing is the work of careful
>thought, thorough revision, and good editing.  Using a style guide to
>promote uniformity and clarity of expression is an excellent idea, but
>it should not be a straightjacket in which reductionist rules attempt to
>take the place of careful writing. 
>
>I would like to thank all of you who have helped produce the
>documentation that has made it possible for me to cobble together my own
>Linux box, and I hope that my observations on this particular point will
>be accepted as a constructive comment on your excellent work.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Bill Day
>
>billday bellatlantic net
>
>On 12 Jul 2001 17:38:16 +0100, Eugene O'Connor wrote:
>> Thanks for taking the time to review and comment on the style guide and
>> wordlist. We considered many of the points you raised during the heated
>> discussions of our documentation team, and I have detailed why we chose
>> what we chose below.
>> 
>> "Rebecca J. Walter" wrote:
>> > 
>> > Questions:
>> > regarding apostrophes... If not for possessives, are we supposed to use
>> > of for all possessives or write them wrong?
>> 
>> We are not suggesting to write the possessive "s" without the
>> apostrophe. Our intention is to use a construction such as "the x of the
>> y" rather than "the y's x". 
>> 
>> Many people do not have a clear understanding of the correct usage of
>> the apostrophe. This is true not just for non-native English speakers,
>> but also for native English speakers. There may be confusion with the
>> use of the apostrophe for a contraction ("don't"). 
>> 
>> The "of the" construction is simpler and clearer, and we believe makes
>> the documentation more usable for native and non-native English speakers
>> alike. It also provides a side benefit in reducing translation costs.
>> 
>
>
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