Really?

Check em out… anything else you’d like to see?

thisisnottechwriting:

Dictionary.com is one of my favourite websites. Audio files which demonstrate how to properly pronounce words? (Fun fact: if you go to “tomato”, they give you BOTH pronunciations) Paragraphs explaining the YEAR when a word first started being used? LOVE.

Today, I stumbled across this:

Dord

Word Origin & History

1934, a ghost word printed in “Webster’s New International Dictionary” and defined as a noun used by physicists and chemists, meaning “density.”

In sorting out and separating abbreviations from words in preparing the dictionary’s second edition, a card marked “D or d” meaning “density” somehow migrated from the “abbreviations” stack to the “words” stack. The “D or d” entry ended up being typeset as a word, dord, and defined as a synonym for density. The mistake was discovered in 1939.

Dord: The fake word accidentally created when someone mixed up some piles. The mistake was discovered 5 years later. Who…who FOUND it? It was the 30’s. No one googled that shit. Some amazing person NOTICED. And now that fake word is on DICTIONARY.COM, MAKING IT TOTALLY A WORD NOW.

I, personally, think that “to dord” should denote when a person’s disorganization/carelessness causes a non-life-threatening typo or creates matter.

Obviously, life-threatening typos should have their own word.

- Julia Out

via: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dord?qsrc=3086

Question posted by: mrenzulli

Well, it all depends:

• Do you have any kind of technical expertise? It’s not necessary, but it really helps to have some kind of personal reference for highly technical subjects. And if you already have technical expertise in a specific field, switching to tech writing within that industry can be seamless. Again, not necessary, but definitely helps a bunch.
  
  
• Do you already have solid writing/editing skills? A straight-forward question. Usually if the answer to this question is “no, not really,” then your journey will be more uphill, but still not impossible.
  
  
• Do you communicate complex ideas well? Basically, can you explain things well, in person or in writing? If you find yourself explaining things to people just because you understand it (not because you necessarily enjoy it), that would be a great start. If not, well, you might be considering the wrong career move.
  
  
• Where do you live?Certain parts of the country tend to hire more technical writers than others. For instance, there is no better place in the world to find a tech writing gig than Washington, DC. take a look at The Washington Post’s Job Boards, you’ll see what I mean; it averages like 20 new technical writing jobs a day. But, almost none of them are telecommuting, so if you’re not in that area, it doesn’t do much good for you.
  
  There are still plenty of tech writing gigs that are telecommuting, and some companies list positions that are very similar to technical writing jobs but are not specifically labeled as such.

It’s not any more or less difficult than finding any other job, but there are plenty of tips and tricks I can expand on to help. But it helps to provide some additional info for specific, targeted recommendations.

Just so my followers are aware:
I’ve held several technical writing positions, some with multinational bluechip companies, some with tiny, local companies. I’ve been a contractor, a regular full-time employee, and I’ve held positions that were not labeled as technical writing positions (eh-hem, Word Processor), but all I did could only be described as technical communication. 

I’ve worked for video game companies, defense contractors, software development companies, and within engineering departments. I’ve seen a lot of action; I’ve been laid off, had contracts expire, had contracts renewed, and I’ve left for more lucrative offers.

how-novelistic:

I have literally spent all day working on a project for one of my English classes.

This is my advice to all of you: Never, I repeat NEVER take Technical/Professional Writing.

It’s killing my soul.

And it will kill yours too.

You want some help buddy? Hit up the ask then and you shall receive… receive some assistance for your assignment, but of course.

thisisnottechwriting:

As seen on my favorite Tech Writing Tumblr (besides my own, of course), This Is Not Tech Writing