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Discussion on: How to remove condescending language from documentation

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wlcdesigns profile image
wLc

Add "naive" to that list.

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jbristow profile image
Jon Bristow • Edited

I'd put this one in the WARN pile, but it's a math term so YMMV. (Naive is a [sortof] opposite of axiomatic)

So if I saw it in documentation ("Users may naively try to...") I'd want it gone, but if I saw it in reference to a "naive sort" or "naive bayes" or "naive set theory" I'd want it to stay.

That caveat aside, you have to be really smug to use naive in that "conversational" style in your docs. (Not that I haven't seen it... but yeah... it's a pretty high-fidelity flag)