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Opinion |
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What the Meaning of "Is" Isby Susan Call The recent grand jury investigation of “MonicaGate” gave us several new views of technical communication. It shed light on the importance of correct and complete definitions of terms in a legal context. It showed the importance of correct wording in answering prosecutors’ questions. And it illuminated sex and all its accessories as a new field in technical communication.The President’s defense rests on whether or not his actions met the definition of sex supplied in the Paula Jones deposition. It is this definition that, arrived at hastily, is providing the loophole in the President’s case. Jones’ lawyers decided upon the definition in the middle of the deposition of President Clinton. The definition doesn’t include the specific act that would “hang” the president, much to the President’s relief and much to the dismay of Jones’ lawyers, Ken Starr, and Paula. President Clinton showed astuteness in analyzing on the fly (so to speak) each question asked, word-by-word. He parsed sentences into words and words into syllables to stay as close to the meaning of each as possible. This analysis reached its peak with Clinton’s reply, “That depends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is.” After analyzing the question, he choose his words carefully when forming his answers. After all, the reputation of the presidency was at stake. There may be some in our membership who currently write technical descriptions of sexual acts in the course of their work. Or perhaps you write instructions or cautions for contraceptives or some other related item. For those of us who write cautions and warnings for any type of product, take note of this case. Let our meanings be clear; let our words be chosen so as not to leave room for questioning; let our statements stand up to examination in the courts and in the world arena.In August the President became a technical communicator. In September, the world judged his work. Welcome to the world of technical communication in the ’90s, Mr. President! Comments?
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