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Latest revision as of 11:00, 2 November 2006
In general terms, we follow Microsoft guidelines for terminology, as detailed in:
Microsoft® Computer Dictionary, Fifth Edition (Microsoft Press, 05/01/2002).
This establishes basic meanings, spellings and wordforms.
Unfortunately, this has not been updated for more than five years although MicroSoft (MS) terminology changes almost as often as they issue software patches.
More recent glossaries can be accessed through http://www.microsoft.com/resources/glossary/default.mspx.
Some exceptions are noted below:
We use ie. (NOT i.e.) for "that is", and eg. (NOT e.g.) "for example". This violates Microsoft documentation standards, but we like to live dangerously.
We also use etc. as an abbreviation for "et cetera" (it means "and so on"). Curiously, this also violates MS standards, but you'll find many examples of this in their software and documentation.
Like MS, we use both "System tray" and "Notification area" as the name of the right-hand section of the Taskbar that normally includes the clock. (If anyone's actually interested, there's a whole debate about it [here].)
For Your Amusement
Writer's Rules, OK ?
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These rules are normally attributed to William Safire, "the most widely read writer on the English language". In reality, these "Fumble Rules" have a long history and there are many, many variants of these lists. Some may have descended from the "xeroxlore" that circulated throughout campuses and offices in the 1970s.
Life
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Unfortunately, life and writing are seldom simple, and despite its obvious brilliance, (7,12,17 in particular) Safire's list has attracted some criticism.
The following list may also be useful.
Never use a preposition to end a sentence with.
Avoid anoying alliteration.
Don't verb nouns.
Don't use no double negatives.
Make each pronoun agree with their antecedent.
When dangling, watch your participles.
Don't use commas, which aren't necessary.
Verbs has to agree with their subjects.
About those sentence fragments.
Try to not ever split infinitives.
Its important to use apostrophe's correctly.
Always read what you have written to see if you've any words out.
Correct spelling is esential.
Proofread you writing.
Between you and I, case is important.
Verbs has to agree with their antecedents.
George Orwell
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George Orwell (1946) reckoned that writers "need rules to rely on when instinct fails". He proposed the following rules. (Slightly modernized here.)
Mark Twain
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Mark Twain wrote (in a letter):
Dialog box syntax
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Use for commands, command buttons, option buttons, and options in a list.
Use for checkboxes.
Use to refer to an item (as in a list box) that the user can either type or select in the accompanying text box. You can use enter instead if there's no possibility of confusion.
Dialog box elements
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Jargon Problems
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