Take Our W-O-R-D for It

This column interprets a variety of words, phrases and acronyms encountered in technical communications. Learn and laugh as your peers provide real-world and sometimes cheeky definitions.

This issue’s definitions are provided courtesy of your fellow Willamette Valley Chapter members.

Front matter:

Text in the beginning that to most people doesn't matter.
— Ben Moore

The sound of your forehead hitting the cubicle wall when they change the name of the product two minutes before you ship the finalized documentation to the production house.
— Rachel Houghton

What is left when all the gray matter is gone.
— Barry Gorden

HAT:

Hylozoism Aided Technology.
— John Benson

Jedit:

Editing technique found in Yoda's Manual of Style. Excerpt: “Beware the split infinitive, young Jedi. Must not use. From the dark side it comes!”
— Dan Hiland

A text correction made by Luke Skywalker.
— Dick Miller

Short for “did you edit?” Example - Jedit this yet? Similar to jeatyet (did you eat yet).
— John Benson

Nonlinear documentation:

A detailed description of a parabola or continuous wave.
— John Benson

Circular logic this is a common application of.
— Barry Gorden

Additional Resources

The following is a list of web sites that can help you quickly identify this issue’s words, phrases and acronyms.

Barbour, Jeff. Phenomenology of Hylozoism. (undated) <http://www.ihwy.com/~barbour/jeff/chaos/axioms.htm>

Hower, Sean. Technical Writing. Hokum Glossaries. 2 Mar. 2003. <http://hokum.freehomepage.com/Content/Glossary/Glossary_Technical.html.>

Larson, Gary B. Keywords. Garbl’s Writing Center. 25 Oct. 2002. <http://garbl.home.attbi.com/stylemanual/contents.htm.>

Orr, Timothy and Laura Ramones. Technical Writing Terms Database. Tools for Writers. <http://toolsforwriters.com/portfolios/fall03/orr/terms.htm.>

Cindy Reid is a freelance technical writer/editor and Web site designer. She can be reached at cindycomm@attbi.com.