David Prévot wrote: > I believe that emoticon can be suitable in personal mail, (e.g. to make > sure that no reader will take a joke as an attack), but the official > Debian website (official communication actually) should avoid them. [...] > <p>Since the Debian web pages are read by non-native speakers of English > and are translated into other languages, it is best to write in clear and > -simple English and avoid the use of slang, obscure idioms and old English > +simple English and avoid the use of slang, emoticons, obscure idioms and old > English > words.</p>
I've no problem with this proposal, but the reference to "old English words" there strikes me as odd. Words that have been in use for a long time (such as Old English "word") are no problem, as long as they aren't obsolete! The danger I would have expected people to need to be warned against is *new* words, in the form of jargon... Perhaps it should drop that last phrase? And/or try to be clearer about what (from the point of view of a non-native speaker) might constitute an "obscure idiom"? -- JBR ⠰◅☽ -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-www-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/20110903222731.ga25...@xibalba.demon.co.uk
