>>>just to let u know the exact dutch terminology i have been asked to do
>>>
>>>handleiding
>>>functioneel ontwerp
>>>technisch ontwerp
>>>
>>>i am assuming these translate to user manual, functional analysis and techincal analysis.
>>
>>Um... wouldn't leiding be akin to "leading"? IOW, handleiding sounds to me more like "handleading", i.e. "user's guide".
>
>Very good! leiden = to lead, een leiding = a lead, een leider = a leader
>But now I'm suddenly wondering what 'hand' is doing here.

Turning the pages to see who's the killer?

...only to discover that it's the reader who kills the author? ;)

>>Not that there's much difference between user's manual and guide; the purpose of the first is to be at hand, for reference, while the other is a textbook from which to learn how to use. In practice, it's most often the same book(let), with long descriptions of what you can already see onscreen, and very little of "how-to" ;).