Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

60%
+1 −0
Q&A Can basic grammar rules be skipped when writing text for machine safety labels?

Yes, absolutely you can throw grammar rules out the window. Machine safety labels need to convey the danger clearly first and foremost. They also need to consider that the audience may not be flu...

posted 8y ago by J...‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T05:17:33Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/22166
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar J...‭ · 2019-12-08T05:17:33Z (over 4 years ago)
Yes, absolutely you can throw grammar rules out the window. Machine safety labels need to convey the danger clearly first and foremost. They also need to consider that the audience may not be fluent or conversant in the language at all. Grammar is largely irrelevant, and simple is always better.

As example, here are a collection of safety labels from some Japanese made equipment (installed in North America). I've not included the awkwardly translated text from some of them, and for many it's not even the grammar that's the worst part so much as the vocabulary itself. That said, strong iconography makes the point quite clear in all cases. The wording itself plays second fiddle, really.

[![machine safety label catch/pinch](https://i.stack.imgur.com/1doxW.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/1doxW.jpg)[![machine safety label suffocation](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ACeHP.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ACeHP.jpg)[![machine safety label explosion](https://i.stack.imgur.com/u4Qxu.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/u4Qxu.jpg)[![machine safety label falling](https://i.stack.imgur.com/jL9Lm.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/jL9Lm.jpg)[![machine safety label heat/press](https://i.stack.imgur.com/BreiO.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/BreiO.jpg)[![machine safety label no standing](https://i.stack.imgur.com/1FzUi.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/1FzUi.jpg)[![machine safety label pinch/press](https://i.stack.imgur.com/hBVzM.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/hBVzM.jpg)

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2016-05-28T11:43:34Z (almost 8 years ago)
Original score: 7