
Chapter 14 n IQ Applied to Document & Knowledge Management 665
Olde English Is Our Legacy
Most English words are actually French. Example, the French “fôret” is the
English “forest.” That transition took 400 years. A legacy of the French heritage
is the reflexive pronoun. The use of “itself” and “themselves” is very French and
is vanishing fast.
Another problem is the use of a number in both words and digits. This legacy
comes from 1864 when the typewriter emerged. Typists (also vanishing) wanted
to make sure there were no errors so the numbers were repeated. Fast forward
to computerized publishing systems that use items called “callouts.” Numbers
in circles indicate the part names.
English evolves daily. The noun “text” is now made into a verb. This process
accelerates with the introduction of digital devices with larger keyboards. For
English, the QUERTY keyboard survives, but the Apple iPhone has a digital
keyboard that works with touch and word prediction algorithms.
Most Japanese Executives never use computer keyboards because the writing
of Kanji is complex. The modern English evolving is easy to write and enter
into a computer. How many of us hand-write business letters today? Not many,
I imagine.
There is no way, except through a grammar checker tool to control grammar,
syntax, and style.
STOP, STOP Your Sentence Runneth Over
A few years ago, the former General Motors pro