Re: [GIT PULL] SCSI fixes for 5.16-rc1

[James Bottomley]

On Fri, 2021-11-19 at 11:29 -0800, Linus Torvalds wrote:
> On Fri, Nov 19, 2021 at 10:20 AM James Bottomley
> <James.Bottomley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > Six fixes, five in drivers (ufs, qla2xxx, iscsi) and one core
> > change to fix a regression in user space device state setting,
> > which is used by the iscsi daemons to effect device recovery.
> 
> Language nit.

hey your "nit" is that I used an English verb correctly?

> One of the few correct uses of "to effect" - but perhaps best avoided
> just because even native speakers get it wrong. And we have a lot of
> non-native speakers too.

Well, OK, we do the difference between effect and affect in high
school, but I'm happy to use a more neutral phrasing because I do
notice when people get it wrong (I just silently correct internally).

> It might have been clearer to just say "to start device recovery" or
> perhaps just "as part of device recovery". Just to avoid confusion
> with "affect". Which it obviously _also_ does.
> 
> I kept your wording, but this is just a note that maybe commit
> messages should strive to generally use fairly basic English language
> and try to avoid things that are known to trip people up.

I can certainly relate to the need to be clear and unambiguous, but
this is the thin end of the wedge: you'll be telling me I can't use the
subjunctive mood next just because Americans don't understand what it
is ...

James