User - She ?

Jorgen Sigvardsson

Well, I think it may depend on the cultural background of the writer. I don't know about other cultures, but Homo Sapiens is a "she" in Swedish. If that is the case of this writer, it's easy to see how the user pronouns became feminine. Or the writer might have been a woman. :) -- Pictures[^] from my Japan trip.

leppie

Perhaps the user is a boat, car or plane :laugh: xacc.ide-0.1 released! Download and screenshots

Paul Watson

It is the closest us geeks get to a woman... *ducks* regards, Paul Watson Ireland Colib and ilikecameras. K(arl) wrote: oh, and BTW, CHRISTIAN ISN'T A PARADOX, HE IS A TASMANIAN! -- modified at 5:33 Monday 28th November, 2005

Anna Jayne Metcalfe

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Anna :rose: Riverblade Ltd - Software Consultancy Services Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "Be yourself - not what others think you should be" - Marcia Graesch "Anna's just a sexy-looking lesbian tart" - A friend, trying to wind me up. It didn't work.

Paul Watson

Present company excluded, of course :) regards, Paul Watson Ireland Colib and ilikecameras. K(arl) wrote: oh, and BTW, CHRISTIAN ISN'T A PARADOX, HE IS A TASMANIAN!

realJSOP

It used to be "he". I still do "he" because that's what it was when I went through school. ------- sig starts "I've heard some drivers saying, 'We're going too fast here...'. If you're not here to race, go the hell home - don't come here and grumble about going too fast. Why don't you tie a kerosene rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt "...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001

Anna Jayne Metcalfe

LOL! Thanks :rose: Anna :rose: Riverblade Ltd - Software Consultancy Services Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "Be yourself - not what others think you should be" - Marcia Graesch "Anna's just a sexy-looking lesbian tart" - A friend, trying to wind me up. It didn't work.

Anna Jayne Metcalfe

I've no idea. I've always tended to write "he or she" in user documentation rather than choose one pronoun over the other anyway...:rolleyes: Anna :rose: Riverblade Ltd - Software Consultancy Services Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "Be yourself - not what others think you should be" - Marcia Graesch "Anna's just a sexy-looking lesbian tart" - A friend, trying to wind me up. It didn't work.

Nemanja Trifunovic

PC. Sometimes I see even "they" for a single user.

My programming blahblahblah blog. If you ever find anything useful here, please let me know to remove it.

Nish Nishant

Sl0n wrote:

Hello! Out of curiosity, is there any particular reason why a "user" is referred to as "she" in technical documentation? Political correctness or something else?

Maybe, the technical writers like to imagine that their readers are women - it makes them feel all warm and cuddly :-D

Roger Wright

I tend to use "it" because, like most coders, I hate users.;) "...a photo album is like Life, but flat and stuck to pages." - Shog9

Nitron

I tend to maintain a 50/50 split of he/she with repetition of terms as an alternating fibonacci (sp?) sequence. i.e. he, she she, he he he, she she she she she, he he he he he he he he, then repeat with the roles switched. ;P ~Nitron.

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Member 96

Pronoun dysphoria! ;)

"Hello, hello, what's all this shouting, we'll have no trouble here! This is a Local Shop for Local People, there's nothing for you here!" -Edward Tattsyrup

peterchen

I see it this way: Andy proved that you can get closer for "a few" extra miles.

We say "get a life" to each other, disappointed or jokingly. What we forget, though, is that this is possibly the most destructive advice you can give to a geek.
boost your code || Fold With Us! || sighist

peterchen

Which sucks, IMO, if you know that 99% of your users are "he".

We say "get a life" to each other, disappointed or jokingly. What we forget, though, is that this is possibly the most destructive advice you can give to a geek.
boost your code || Fold With Us! || sighist

Jorgen Sigvardsson

:laugh: I think I will use neutral pronouns when it's time to update manuals. :-D -- Pictures[^] from my Japan trip.

Paul Watson

Err. You lost me there. :) regards, Paul Watson Ireland Colib and ilikecameras. K(arl) wrote: oh, and BTW, CHRISTIAN ISN'T A PARADOX, HE IS A TASMANIAN!

Tom Archer

With regards to technical book publishing in the states, it's a case of political correctness. Tom Archer (blog) Program Manager MSDN Online (Windows Vista and Visual C++) MICROSOFT

Raj Lal

User - She ? because it is targeted to those who actually read the technical document :laugh: "Not everything that counts can be counted..." -Albert Einstein

Anna Jayne Metcalfe

LMAO! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Anna :rose: Riverblade Ltd - Software Consultancy Services Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "Be yourself - not what others think you should be" - Marcia Graesch "Anna's just a sexy-looking lesbian tart" - A friend, trying to wind me up. It didn't work.