There isn’t a software engineer or IT dude/dudette on earth who would have any trouble reading the next three sentences, taken from Spam Experts explanation of their Spam Quarantine overview:
“Underneath you find all messages for all domains that were permanently blocked by the filtering system. Note, spam messages that were temporarily rejected on SMTP level are not listed in this overview and will be automatically retried by legitimate sending servers. You can use the log search function to find a specific message that is not listed in this table.”
Someone inside the web server/IT bubble would not realize that it isn’t in English. Let’s look at it phrase by phrase, with commentary added (parenthetically).
- “Underneath you find all messages (messages = emails)
- for all domains (domains = the email service that you’ve hired to provide you email service (eg @gmail.com, @comcast.com, etc.))
- that were permanently blocked (not allowed to go to your inbox)
- by the filtering system (by our service).
- Note, spam messages that were temporarily rejected on SMTP level (sorry, I have no idea what this means)
- are not listed (this is a kind of double negative: “rejected/not”)
- in this overview (“all messages” is now an “overview?”)
- and will be automatically retried (does “re-tried” mean “re-sent” even though they are blocked? Huh?)
- by legitimate (as opposed to illegitimate?)
- sending servers (obviously this is not tennis, table tennis or restaurant waiters, so “sending servers” must mean something to the author which does NOT mean “you.” I think. Maybe.).
- You can use the log search function (a log is a section of a tree trunk or large branch; or a book of regularly kept observations. I have no idea what the word “log” means in this context. Why not just say “You can search.”)
- to find a specific message that is not listed (Good God. You can “find message[s] that are NOT listed? What?)
- in this table (and now it’s not “messages” or “overview” … now it’s a “table.”).”
This isn’t necessarily “poor writing” – it’s merely someone inside the IT bubble using their day-to-day jargon. The problem is that someone in management allowed this to be published for non-IT people (aka customers).
Anyone who knows an engineer – including software engineers – knows that “they’re different.” What makes engineers “different” is their analytical skill. Part and parcel to this skill, is the naming of things and the creation of serious nomenclature. All craftspeople, from doctors to Six Sigma managers, create their own language (aka jargon). Jargon is only a problem when it escapes and is used in tutorials, training or customer service, where it is confusing, frustrating and sometimes counter-productive. Spam Experts? Google? Hire a couple outside-the-IT-Bubble writers.