doc: edit COLLABORATORS_GUIDE.md for readability

Changes include:

* add words-as-words italics
* remove scare quotes and excessive italics-for-emphasis
* change "is considered to be" and similar to "is"
* change "is X and not not-X" formulations to just "is X"
* change "any and all" to "all"
* remove "sky is blue" paragraph about breaking changes
* general reduction in wordiness

COLLABORATOR_GUIDE.md

@@ -123,44 +123,39 @@ level of V8 within Node.js is updated or new patches are floated on V8.
 
 Due to the nature of the JavaScript language, it can often be difficult to
 establish a clear distinction between which parts of the Node.js implementation
-represent the "public" API Node.js users should assume to be stable and which
-are considered part of the "internal" implementation detail of Node.js itself.
-A general rule of thumb has been to base the determination off what
-functionality is actually *documented* in the official Node.js API
-documentation. However, it has been repeatedly demonstrated that either the
-documentation does not completely cover implemented behavior or that Node.js
-users have come to rely heavily on undocumented aspects of the Node.js
-implementation.
-
-While there are numerous exceptions, the following general rules should be
-followed to determine which aspects of the Node.js API are considered
-"internal":
-
-- Any and all functionality exposed via `process.binding(...)` is considered to
-  be internal and *not* part of the Node.js Public API.
-- Any and all functionality implemented in `lib/internal/**/*.js` that is not
-  re-exported by code in `lib/*.js`, or is not documented as part of the
-  Node.js Public API, is considered to be internal.
-- Any object property or method whose key is a non-exported `Symbol` is
-  considered to be an internal property.
-- Any object property or method whose key begins with the underscore `_` prefix,
-  and is not documented as part of the Node.js Public API, is considered to be
-  an internal property.
+represent the public API Node.js users should assume to be stable and which
+are part of the internal implementation details of Node.js itself. A rule of
+thumb is to base the determination off what functionality is actually
+documented in the official Node.js API documentation. However, it has been
+repeatedly demonstrated that either the documentation does not completely cover
+implemented behavior or that Node.js users have come to rely heavily on
+undocumented aspects of the Node.js implementation.
+
+The following general rules should be followed to determine which aspects of the
+Node.js API are internal:
+
+- All functionality exposed via `process.binding(...)` is internal.
+- All functionality implemented in `lib/internal/**/*.js` is internal unless it
+  is re-exported by code in `lib/*.js` or documented as part of the Node.js
+  Public API.
+- Any object property or method whose key is a non-exported `Symbol` is an
+  internal property.
+- Any object property or method whose key begins with the underscore `_` prefix
+  is internal unless it is documented as part of the Node.js Public API.
 - Any object, property, method, argument, behavior, or event not documented in
-  the Node.js documentation is considered to be internal.
+  the Node.js documentation is internal.
 - Any native C/C++ APIs/ABIs exported by the Node.js `*.h` header files that
-  are hidden behind the `NODE_WANT_INTERNALS` flag are considered to be
-  internal.
+  are hidden behind the `NODE_WANT_INTERNALS` flag are internal.
 
 Exception to each of these points can be made if use or behavior of a given
 internal API can be demonstrated to be sufficiently relied upon by the Node.js
 ecosystem such that any changes would cause too much breakage. The threshold
-for what qualifies as "too much breakage" is to be decided on a case-by-case
+for what qualifies as too much breakage is to be decided on a case-by-case
 basis by the TSC.
 
 If it is determined that a currently undocumented object, property, method,
 argument, or event *should* be documented, then a pull request adding the
-documentation is required in order for it to be considered part of the "public"
+documentation is required in order for it to be considered part of the public
 API.
 
 Making a determination about whether something *should* be documented can be
@@ -232,17 +227,12 @@ handling may have been made. Additional CI testing may be required.
 
 #### When breaking changes actually break things
 
-Breaking changes are difficult primarily because they change the fundamental
-assumptions a user of Node.js has when writing their code and can cause
-existing code to stop functioning as expected -- costing developers and users
-time and energy to fix.
-
 Because breaking (semver-major) changes are permitted to land in master at any
-time, it should be *understood and expected* that at least some subset of the
-user ecosystem *may* be adversely affected *in the short term* when attempting
-to build and use Node.js directly from master. This potential instability is
-precisely why Node.js offers distinct Current and LTS release streams that
-offer explicit stability guarantees.
+time, it should be expected that at least some subset of the user ecosystem may
+be adversely affected in the short term when attempting to build and use Node.js
+directly from master. This potential instability is precisely why Node.js offers
+distinct Current and LTS release streams that offer explicit stability
+guarantees.
 
 Specifically:
 
@@ -297,18 +287,18 @@ recommended but not required.
 
 ### Deprecations
 
-Deprecation refers to the identification of Public APIs that should no longer
+_Deprecation_ refers to the identification of Public APIs that should no longer
 be used and that may be removed or modified in non-backwards compatible ways in
-a future major release of Node.js. Deprecation *may* be used with internal APIs
-if there is expected impact on the user community.
+a future major release of Node.js. Deprecation may be used with internal APIs if
+there is expected impact on the user community.
 
-Node.js uses three fundamental Deprecation levels:
+Node.js uses three Deprecation levels:
 
 * *Documentation-Only Deprecation* refers to elements of the Public API that are
   being staged for deprecation in a future Node.js major release. An explicit
   notice indicating the deprecated status is added to the API documentation
-  *but no functional changes are implemented in the code*. There will be no
-  runtime deprecation warning emitted for such deprecations.
+  but no functional changes are implemented in the code. There will be no
+  runtime deprecation warnings emitted for such deprecations.
 
 * *Runtime Deprecation* refers to the use of process warnings emitted at
   runtime the first time that a deprecated API is used. A command-line
@@ -320,12 +310,11 @@ Node.js uses three fundamental Deprecation levels:
 * *End-of-life* refers to APIs that have gone through Runtime Deprecation and
   are ready to be removed from Node.js entirely.
 
-Documentation-Only Deprecations *may* be handled as semver-minor or
-semver-major changes. Such deprecations have no impact on the successful
-operation of running code and therefore should not be viewed as breaking
-changes.
+Documentation-Only Deprecations may be handled as semver-minor or semver-major
+changes. Such deprecations have no impact on the successful operation of running
+code and therefore should not be viewed as breaking changes.
 
-Runtime Deprecations and End-of-life APIs (internal or public) *must* be
+Runtime Deprecations and End-of-life APIs (internal or public) must be
 handled as semver-major changes unless there is TSC consensus to land the
 deprecation as a semver-minor.
 
@@ -338,7 +327,7 @@ the documentation for the assigned deprecation identifier must remain in the
 Node.js API documentation.
 
 <a id="deprecation-cycle"></a>
-A "Deprecation cycle" is one full Node.js major release during which an API
+A _Deprecation cycle_ is one full Node.js major release during which an API
 has been in one of the three Deprecation levels. (Note that Documentation-Only
 Deprecations may land in a Node.js minor release but must not be upgraded to
 a Runtime Deprecation until the next major release.)
@@ -347,7 +336,7 @@ No API can be moved to End-of-life without first having gone through a
 Runtime Deprecation cycle.
 
 A best effort will be made to communicate pending deprecations and associated
-mitigations with the ecosystem as soon as possible (preferably *before* the pull
+mitigations with the ecosystem as soon as possible (preferably before the pull
 request adding the deprecation lands in master). All deprecations included in
 a Node.js release should be listed prominently in the "Notable Changes" section
 of the release notes.
@@ -375,8 +364,8 @@ The TSC should serve as the final arbiter where required.
     * The rebase method changes the author.
     * The squash & merge method has been known to add metadata to the
     commit title.
-    * If more than one author has contributed to the PR, only the
-    latest author will be considered during the squashing.
+    * If more than one author has contributed to the PR, keep the most recent
+      author when squashing.
 
 Always modify the original commit message to include additional meta
 information regarding the change process:
@@ -627,7 +616,7 @@ TSC for further discussion.
 #### How are LTS Branches Managed?
 
 There are currently two LTS branches: `v6.x` and `v4.x`. Each of these is paired
-with a "staging" branch: `v6.x-staging` and `v4.x-staging`.
+with a staging branch: `v6.x-staging` and `v4.x-staging`.
 
 As commits land in `master`, they are cherry-picked back to each staging
 branch as appropriate. If the commit applies only to the LTS branch, the