Comment by midtake
1 year ago
> the word “just” implies that an idea is simple.
What's wrong with this? That seems like proper usage to me. What the author has an issue with seems to be snobby, snarky, or sarcastic usage of the word "just."
Sometimes, the best answer is in fact "just add a DNS record."
The author should just write that instead of this long blog-post that gives the impression of someone easily offended.
No, the problem is oblivious use of the word “just”. As in “just add a DNS record”, when said to an audience that has never setup a website. The idea here is that we (people who write instructions) are so bad at knowing our audience, and so bad at knowing if we’re one of the ones who are bad at knowing our audience, that it’s safer to just avoid using just entirely.
It's not about written instructions to an audience who has never set up a website though, it's about an "engineer" and a "senior engineer" on the same team talking to each other.
> Sometimes, the best answer is in fact "just add a DNS record."
Why not (just) answer with "Add a DNS record." ?
Just in a statement is insulting if the other person has no idea why the statement is true. Why don't you just, in a question, is insulting if the suggestion is a good one.
There is weird symmetry here.
Why not either? I feel like that's the point. They both work. And insisting that everyone else use the version you like comes off as nitpicky.
It's like in a math textbook where they say the word, obviously. No, it might NOT be obvious to your reader. See the story of Shizuo Kakutani teaching: https://curiosamathematica.tumblr.com/post/122398968526/obvi...
It might "just" be simple to you, but that could be with your years of knowledge. Write for your audience. If it's an informational blogpost? "just" might annoy people who do get confused because they think it should be easy. "Just" make the app.
Step 1. Draw a circle.
Step 2. Just finish the lion.
Why can't you draw from my instructions?
The same principle is why I try not to teach any game as "Simple", even when it is to me. Some people cannot follow rules to a game, no matter how simple, and then are frustrated when the "simple" game doesn't come to them. Why add that layer of negativity?
words mean things. What's really the benefit of adding in "just"?
Your claim is that people are too easily offended and so maybe these people will be (too) easily offend by the word. So what's really the benefit of using the word?
It adds clarity that you're proposing an alternate solution precisely because it's simpler/less work and not as a general alternative. It's a qualifier. think of it as shorthand for "Wouldn't it be easier if..."
Saying something like "would it be easier to add a DNS record" seems effective too without the baggage?
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Yea, like "just let them eat cake"!
Group conformance yields substantial dividends.
Disagree with people's heuristics too often and you might find yourself looking for a job.
> The author should just write that instead of this long blog-post that gives the impression of someone easily offended.
Just write a better article yourself.
As someone who has added hundreds of DNS records, there is absolutely nothing “just” about it.