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Is it:
1) website
2) web site
3) Web site
And when do you capitalize web? I thought it was just when you were referring to "the Web".
Key_Master
Certified Professional in Written English
Now don't start holding my misspellings against me- I type fast! :)
A new two word word has a space such as Web site.
After it has spent its time in the dictionary dungeon you add a hyphen like e-mail.
After it goes through some more time it finally makes it to its own word like pickup.
This tour of duty usually last about 7 - 12 years depending on usage.
The scoop he gave me was that the big wigs at american heritage and webster and other dictionary and grammer people were going to skip the old hyphen thing and go to a complete word for web site. e-mail is still in purgetory.
The same questions were asked in the SmartCard insudtry some time ago as to whethe it whould be Smart Card or SmartCard. They were both used pretty much equeally but eventually SmartCard was decided to be the "official" term by the relevant associations.
I checked the difference between website and web site over at [spellweb.com...] and they were pretty much even on Lycos, (66 million vs 67 million). They were also equal for Fast, (0 vs 0, seems the Fast connection is broken). Actually, going direct to Fast gives the same figures as Lycos which stands to reason really.
Google gives 5.6 million for Web Site, and asks "Did you mean Website?" which gives 40.9 million.
Altavista, web site = 38.7 million, website = 20.6 million
Hotbot, 81 million vs 21 million.
So, really it is all over the place, and I am not sure any one spelling is the accepted "one true spelling".
Not the definitive answer, but I am not sure there is one.
Onya
Woz
[added - boy you guys type fast whilst one is doing one's research!]
I think the confusion on capitalization comes from "Internet", which is commonly treated as a proper noun and capitalized anywhere in a sentence.
However, I am going to be running some ads in my local newspaper (one word) and I will be using the "web site" spelling because I am targeting non-tech. If there is a grammer freak out there in my target market I know they can't look down on me for two words. But they could if I use one.
A web page is just a page. A web site refers to a network of pages that form a site.
So, it makes logical sense to refer to a network of web pages as a "web site" and one node within that network as a "web page."
My two cents.
Question, I believe that intranet isn't capitalized, what do you think?
I think that stems from the fact that "intranets" are separate unique entities, and the Internet is a single global entity. If you're dealing with multiple internets, I think it's safe to not-capitalize it. However, there is little chance that internets aren't connected to the Internet, thus making it all a part of the grand scheme anyway. Do internets even exist anymore, or is there just the Internet?
I prefer 'website'.
I may prefer wbestie because that's how my fingers like to type it, but that doesn't matter. All that matters is prevailing usage... which seems to be mixed.
So, it makes logical sense to refer to a network of web pages as a "web site"
It also makes logical sense that the vowel sound in "though", "through" and "thought" would be the same, but it isn't. Natural language doesn't work this way.
Anyway, I think one of the best authorities on the matter should be the Chicago Manual of Style editorial board (along with the AP Style Manual, and perhaps the dictionary people, though capitalization issues and prefered spellings where multiple spellings are used are usually handled by style manuals). They say:
Q. Which is currently accepted: Web site, web site, website, or Website?A. A lot of people are writing “website.” A lot of people have come to prefer “website.” But formal usage still calls for “Web site,” in recognition of the initiatives of the World Wide Web Consortium (write “Web-site” as an adjective). The most elaborately formal modern American publication I can think of, the New Yorker, still writes “Web site,” but then again, they also write “E-mail,” “coördinate,” and “reëxamine”—they are very particular. We at Chicago are very particular too, and we recommend “Web site.” But our press as a whole is not in the position of publishing a single, unified publication—such as a magazine. It is easier to apply a set of standard rules and never vary from them for one publication, but rules applying to all sorts of books, articles, and other writing must be a little more flexible. Moreover, when a word gets used a lot it tends to lose any awkward edges (and what could be more awkward than a compound formed of one capitalized word and one lowercased word?). Each new book that appears on the scene presents an opportunity for an author to express a usage preference or to demonstrate a familiarity with changing usage.
But generally, I would recommend “Web site” for formal writing, but “website” for informal writing or friendly writing. Unless, of course, you prefer “Web site” even when you’re being friendly.
I wonder what the SERP's that Woz states were 6 months ago, 12, 26, 36 and so on. I'd put a small wager on saying that "web site" was the proper way to go about it....but due to keyword spamming, general spamming, greediness and uniformality that it was changed to "website". Alias, this is unfounded.
It begs the question "does the correct matter if everyone else gets it wrong??"
It begs the question "does the correct matter if everyone else gets it wrong??"
I would say this is impossible. If everyone does something one way, that is correct. For example, an explicit adverb form is rapidly disappearing from the English language - people tend to drive slow today, not slowly as they did in the past and most cars for sale "run good" (which traditionally means they went around doing good deeds, not that they were reliable). Which is correct today? I can't say, but I'll bet in 50 years "he drives slow in a car that runs good" will be standard English. Ditto for split infinitives. Even the Chicago Manual of Style people approve these now "at the editor's discretion". So it is now considered correct English "To boldly go where no man has gone before". All the grammar ninnies were over-ruled by democracy and, despite attempts by people like the French to control language, nothing is as democratic as language.
My apologies for these long posts... I'm a text editor by profession and a grammar ninny by avocation.....
Tom
Is that the correct term for these people? :)
Im humbled to post now since you are a pro ;) Yeah I think that its great that English is a "fluid" language...but, I'd hate to think Joe Public is inventing the dictionary as you insinuate......ie joe public uses the word therefore its a word.
I wonder how many times we have to use words like Yahoogle until they get into the dictionary :) Oh yeah...and if anyone is getting authoritive info on the "buzzwords" of the moment or ones heading into the dictionary....sticky me.
I'm off to make up some new words, subvert people into using them, and put them in my titles :) .....
I am also fluent in Spanish and I remember what one of my professors said once. He is from Mexico and writes for a Newspaper there and in Arizona.
His point was that Chicanos in America are forming their own language. Many people say that they are incorrect in their manner of speech blah blah blah. Here was his point: go back to the Roman empire and the 'common people' of Spain, Portugal, France, etc were speaking vulgar, incorrect Latin. Now they are members of the Romance Languages and have their own set of rules.
Your grammar usage and spelling should be determined by your audience, especially when dealing with Search Engines.
BTW definition of a 'ninny' FOOL, SIMPLETON ;)
>What is correct is determined by US. ????
So, not only can other people determine the definition of the language I use, but their country has the final say over it as well??? wow, im learning more than one thing new today ;)
This sorta reminds me how every year, when I watch soccer on the TV, the commentators have a new suave way of pronouncing the continental football stars. The fact is, we only want to know what the commentator is talking about, we dont want his personality and choice of grammar loaded into his sentences.....sorta falling in line with what you say about choice of grammar for your audience ;) IMO 1 word for one thing is the way I would have it...but then again im not the US :)
Rather like I am an employee of CompanyX, so I'm a CompanyX emplyee.
Some time ago Tim Berners-Lee wrote, in his FAQ:
I use "Web" with a capital W to indicate that it is an abbreviation for "World Wide Web". Hence, "What a tangled web he wove on his Web site!".
Note that Tim created the proper noun "World Wide Web" to describe a worldwide web (worldwide is one word, not two), so it can be confusing.
Speaking of differences in language. When the U.S. was in the process of becoming independent many English spellings were changed purposefully to distinguish the Yanks from the Brits.
i.e. colour changed to color, etc.
apart from the fact we have to be aware of each others countries' spelling preferences, you americans must be ranking slightly ranking higher in google by saving on all the times us UK people write COLOUR to your COLOR and the like.
Since I am a victim of my own language, who should I be seeking compensation from due to this unfair competitive advantage? :) lol best not answer that
Im humbled to post now since you are a pro
Yeah, so watch out! Amateurs could get hurt with this stuff....
I'd hate to think Joe Public is inventing the dictionary as you insinuate.
It's not a matter of insinuating, it's just a matter of the way natural languages work. Most of my work deals with pre-print Europe - language rules were very loose and evolved quickly in pre-print cultures. Print has slowed it down a lot and given people the idea that there is a reference book (aka dicitonary) for settling a lot of disputes. Ultimately, however, dictionaries both record and inlfuence usage, but ultimately, if a large number of people use a certain word, that makes it a legitimate word. If it is limited to certain contexts (i.e. a certain trade), it may not make it into the dictionary, but once usage becomes generalized, that's it. It's a word.
Look at an old dictionary (I work mostly with dictionaries from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries). Many of the spellings and lots of the definitions are "wrong". From the perspective of a sixteenth-century person, the same would be true of our usage. The fact that a dictionary existed then could no more stop the evolution of language than the existence of a dicitonary can now.
I have to say that this is perhaps my favorite thing about natural languages. Embrace change (bills are good too).
Tom
have you noticed any sort of "frameshifts" with words? ie ive seen excerpts of olde english and how it has developed into the language (that I) we understand today.
It would be interesting to note that words have been replaced with some sort of logic (just like colour and color). I also wonder if that changes in the words used in our everyday lives make up for "imperfections" of the english language as it stood in the past. ie why spell it colour when you can spell it quicker as color sort of thing
bit OT I know, but since the end user can only reach you in the form of typed words with present day technology - its nonetheless very important to know about!
TWO WORDS
Merriam-Webster
FOLDOC (Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing)
Wordsmyth Educational Dictionary
DICT.org
netlingo.com
Internet Dictionary Project
Newbury House Dictionary of American English
InfoPlease dictionary
ONE WORD
Dictionary.com (a.k.a.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000)
WhatIs.com
Computer Telephony & Electronics Dictionary and Glossary
Geek.com glossary
iBase dictionary
Cambridge dictionaries
I believe web site should be two words along the same line of reasoning as Martinibuster; it's web page, web server, web browser, web developer, etc. Webmaster is only one word because master is often combined with other words as one word: toastmaster, headmaster, beastmaster, etc.
I wouldn't capitalize web site, because the word web is an adjective modifying the noun site. When I refer to the Web as a noun, I capitalize it much the way Internet is capitalized.
As I mentioned in another recent post (I think), our organization just updated its writing style guide, and the above are the conventions we agreed to adopt.
The truth of the matter is that if the person you are communicating with understands what you are saying then thats all you need. Down here in the south we constantly say yall and aint. As to my knowledge both are not proper grammer, but people know what they mean I reckon.
Yeah, it's pretty OT isn't it. I love this stuff, but I guess I should quit posting on it. Since you asked a direct question, though, I'll (gladly) take the bait...
have you noticed any sort of "frameshifts" with words? ... It would be interesting to note that words have been replaced with some sort of logic
Lots. My research language is a written dialect of mid-sixteenth-century French in an area where a dialect of Franco-provencal is the main spoken language. The obvious example for French is that accents were not introduced into the language (as an import from Greek) until the 16th century and usage was not standardized until the nineteenth century. So these shifts are very systematic - "estre" becomes "être" and so on.
Also spellings that are influenced by Latin are progressively introduced in the fifteenth centuries by people who want to seem learned and eventually everyone switched from "savoir" to "scavoir" (false etymology from 'scere' rather than 'sapere') which gave way over a couple of centuries to "savoir".
In the case that you mention, "colour" was preferred by imitation of old French. "Color" was part of Webster's attempt at simplification. Most of Webster's reforms never took root, but those that did account for most of the difference between American and British (color/colour, plow/plough and so on).
Most impressive in English is that unlike other languages, it is hardly inflected. That is, we have very simple verb forms and nouns take their meaning by position and helper words (prepositions) rather than with word endings. This is because successive waves of invaders of the British Isles had languages where many of the roots of the words were the same, but the endings and syntax was different. Solution: get rid of endings, reduce verb forms and simplify the language. Most of the reason that US English is becoming the international language has to do with economics and politics, but it's simplicity is also a reason why people have been willing to adopt English in way that they did not when Japan was the world's largest economy.
Okay, that's my last post on this. I promise. Sorry everyone....
Tom
I tried to spell it with 2 words for a while, but everyone thought it was a typo. Now I always spell it one word, all lower case. I guess I'm a sellout.
Which pronoun would website be?
it?
we?
them??
