Forum Moderators: open
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".
One shift that computer technology brought to English was "CamelCase". It's no longer tecnically necessary since you now can use spaces in file names, but it's here to stay - adopted by the marketing industry with a fervor.
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.
It is also worthwhile to recall that the sort of "standardized" spelling of English we know today did not exist at the time of the American Revolution.
The book, A Grammatical Institute of the English Language, was printed in 1783. It was often referred to as the 'Blue Speller' It was used heavily by the colonies to teach all ages of school students.
Webster made later editions of the Speller and eventually created his dictionary in 1828
(edited by: pcguru333 at 9:04 pm (utc) on May 17, 2002)
I find that when I do something for local print, I spell words the Canadian way (colour etc.) and when I put something on the Web, I spell it the American way.
>grammar ninniesIs that the correct term for these people?
<tongue in cheek>
In the small, unrepresentative sample of the population that I call my group of friends, we call such people "word n*zis." This is because the one person we know that does it can be insufferable.
Of course this is an inflammatory phrase, but it makes us feel better.
If this question is ...
... A poll: I use website.
... A matter of cool: yooz WeBsItE dOOd!
... A matter of what's "right": depends on the language, dialect, and judgment of The Man(tm).
</tongue in cheek>
I find that when I do something for local print, I spell words the Canadian way (colour etc.) and when I put something on the Web, I spell it the American way.
What it now comes down to for me is before I knew how I was comfortable writing certain words and now I'm not ;)
Americans quite rightly want to have their own language which is American English.
(color)
Brits want theirs as well which is British English.
(colour)
Germans want their own language which is Deutsch.
(farbe, tinte)
The French, Chinese, Poles, Croats, etc etc ....
So what is the big deal about again?
And paynt just to make you happy with your words again ....
The only point of language written or oral is to communicate...
if your choice of media and the components thereof allow you to achieve communication with your target audience let these grammer bashers get on with their debates and you can get on undaunted with your communcating :-)
"But I reckon I got to light out for the territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she's going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I can't stand it."The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
Off topic maybe, but for those that have read this author's works, I think the quote speaks for itself. Was Mark Twain a grammer basher or a grammar hacker?
Communication. Dat's all I gotta say 'bout dat.
The big deal is, if i spell website i might get 10 visits while web site may get a 1000 :)
As for the broader idea of language in general, I think its important to see who is using what language, and how the language and culture (remember the global village thread) is incorporated into SE results :) amongst other things.
I have to admit, running any site that is scientific, you will come across those little letter variations WITHIN these words that could
1. cut you off from a stream of customers due to our use of linear search technology :) oops
2. alienate the unassuming visitor who is unaware of language variations
3. Example : I use UK English, though, the majority may use US English. They may think I can't spell!
Its just broad things to keep in mind. IMHO, its all to easy to think that websites are all about looking aesthetically pleasing, and jam packed full of efficient code
Its all very interesting and relevant to me :) Im seriously considering learning all the UK/US spelling variations, in case of future changes in language :)
"My father is a technical writer. He has all the ins on american english grammer"
He would kill you for misspelling grammar
And whats all this American English, its just plain old English. Can you guess I'm from England?
Why is the alphabet in that order? Is it because of that song?
You should hear him edit my content:)
How can you mispell cat? There is no Q it cat!
(edited by: korkus2000 at 12:24 pm (utc) on May 24, 2002)
"Do internets even exist anymore, or is there just the Internet?"
IMO, the Internet does not exist at all. It is purely a concept and as such has no real existence beyond that as a mental construct.
:-)
David
Ah, I think someone should just get rid of all these different spellings and get us a universally uniformed one. --Yongsi
George Bernard Shaw left a sum of money in his will towards a contest that would design a new, phonetic, writing system for English. The system also needed to be easy to read and write.
The winner (I think his name was Read) designed a fascinating and easily-learned writing system that unfortunately never caught on. An example was a letter that looked like the number seven without the European horizontal bar. This letter was to be pronounced "uh", as in "up".
Penguin Books (I think) published one of Shaw's plays (Major Barbara?) in the new orthography, with an included separate summary card.
David
PS - Of all the arguments, I am most swayed by 'Web site' with 'Web' being a proper noun derived from 'World Wide Web'. I am also more impressed by grammar than by grammer.
Parenthetically in this PS, and admittedly not appropriate to this forum, I decry the apparent accelerated worsening in the quality of U.S. education and hope that it does not presage the general downfall of intelligence, creativity, problem solving, science, and other characteristics or results of critical thinking.
I apologize for this mostly irrelevant flaming (where is that fire extinguisher when I need it?). I promise not to continue it.
David
