POISON WORD TABLE
These words in Event Blocks "poison" a description or explanation of what happened,
by making leaving the users of your work confused or unclear and therefore inclined to
be defensive, argumentative, or at worst combative about what happened. Be sure to have
a very good reason for using them if you feel you must.
| Category |
Examples |
Explanation |
| Conjunctions |
and, or but |
prevents placement under single start time and logic testing of
EBs. Separate into two entries at the conjunction. |
| Pronoun |
he, she, you, it, they, them, |
prevents placement on a named actor row; also prevents users from
visualizing what happened; masks behaviors of individuals, indicates investigation
problem. Enter individual names, ID symbols or other unique identifiers. |
| Plural nouns |
crowd, crew, firefighters, workmen |
prevents placement on a name actor row, and logic testing of
actions; also prevents users from visualizing what happened. Track individual
actors. |
| Allegations |
did not, failed to, should have |
interest is in what person or object did and why they did it;
allegations must be accompanied with proofs, and belong in analyses. |
| Opinion adjectives |
improperly, inadequately, incorrectly, badly |
opinions, or judgments about behavior belong in analyses rather
than factual descriptions of what happened. Do not use. |
| Opinion verbs |
violated, should have, erred, misjudged, ignored |
opinions, or judgments about behavior belong in analyses rather than
factual descriptions of what happened. Avoid in descriptions; if not known, say so. |
| Passive voice verbs |
was, were |
passive voice masks who did the action, and often masks lack of
understanding of what happened, investigation problem. Use active voice. |
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