GNU bug report logs - #28790
[PATCH] Replaced "which see" with "q.v.".

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Message #32 received at 28790 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: joaotavora <at> gmail.com (João Távora)
To: Glenn Morris <rgm <at> gnu.org>
Cc: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>, John Williams <jrw <at> pobox.com>,
 28790 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#28790: [PATCH] Replaced "which see" with "q.v.".
Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2017 01:19:19 +0100

Glenn Morris <rgm <at> gnu.org> writes:

> Eli Zaretskii wrote:
>
>> The absolute majority of your proposed changes are in the doc strings,
>> where we already have a direct link to the documentation of a symbol
>> whose name precedes "which see".  So whether the reader understands
>> that or doesn't, the link is already there to click on, and no harm is
>> done by a relatively rare use of this phrase.
>
> IMO there is no benefit either, as you explain above. "which see" is an
> anachronism in the age of hyperlinks.

For me, it has the benefit that it allows me emphasize that the
hyperlink preceding is more important than usual, almost a pre-requisite
for understanding the current one.  I use "which see" because it's terse
and a conventional phrase. Until this discussion I thought it was a
widely accepted convention, even outside Emacs, I now understand that it
is not, but if you "forbid it" I have to start writing things like "(the
documentation of which is required/suggested to fully understand this
item)" which says the same but is a bit long-winded.

João

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