On 05/12/2010 09:25 PM, I wrote:
> Now, before we go any further, print this out, and take it with you to
> the hangar.
>
> Are you there? Fine.
Someone pointed out to me that he found my post "condescending". I had
to look up what this word means, but it wasn't a good thing. Now I'm
very worried that more people considered my post with similar feelings.
As my previous attempts to explain how I think the anti servo tab works
failed, I thought that a "look and feel" experience would make clear
what I mean. The idea that someone would try this out and imagining the
light bulb going on, together with the comment that "I'm Donald Duck if
it works that way" from the previous poster, was to me an invitation to
put some humor into the description.
I should have known. The balance between a humoristic description or a
condescending description is very marginal, too marginal for a non
native English writer like me. And on top of that is humor culture bound
(On a Dutch forum this post would have provoked a few ROFL smileys and
nobody would have taken offence, as we tend to be a little less formal
and polite than some other cultures).
So, I want to apologize to anyone who felt offended by my post, or
considered it "condescending". It really was not meant that way.
Frans
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