Re: can you think of an example of 'click on' used in a grammatically incorrect way?

Subject: Re: can you think of an example of 'click on' used in a grammatically incorrect way?
From: dmbrown -at- brown-inc -dot- com
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 05 Dec 2003 15:56:59 -0800


Bonnie Granat wrote:

"Click" has no meaning in a GUI context unless its meaning is
"get ON the object."

I wrote:
I assume you mean "click [not 'get'] ON the object," and I say it's
entirely a matter of interpretation.

Bonnie wrote:
Not if you understand the meaning of the word "click" in a GUI
context. It has a specialized meaning that includes the concept of
"on," because you cannot "click" at all unless you ARE "on."

I disagree, but to show what a "big tent" kinda guy I am, I say it's a question of preference.

Bonnie went on:

That is, how do you click in a GUI context and accomplish anything
without being ON the object.

I had already answered that question in my next sentence:
When I "click" in a GUI context, I'm clicking the left mouse button,
not the pattern of pixels on the screen. I "click on" GUI objects.

Bonnie Granat wrote:
Well, of course you're not clicking pixels. You're clicking the thing
that is under your mouse pointer

Then why not say "click the object under your pointer"?

By the way, it's not a "mouse pointer," it's just a "pointer"; otherwise, you're excluding people who use trackballs and touch pads.

By the Way II, Return of the Snappy Comeback: It *is* just pixels. The thing under your mouse pointer is a thin layer of chemicals--there's no button there. (Run your finger over it--you'll see what I mean.)

In answer to my statement:
I actually prefer the older "select" and "choose" model, but that's
fallen out of style, which kind of proves my point.

Bonnie wrote:
They are used to mean other things now; they haven't fallen out of
style.

As another respondent noted, Microsoft currently recommends "click OK." They used to recommend "Choose OK." They changed their minds. That's what I meant when I said that "click" has fallen out of style (in the context of what you do to indicate your wishes when presented with a pattern of bits arranged to resemble a physical button).

I also wrote:
Of course, I'll write it any old way the client requires: "Click OK,"
"Click the OK button," "Click on the OK button," ...

and Bonnie wrote:
Clients in general don't know what's most effective; I consider it my
job to make recommendations based on current practice.

Sure, but I'll write it any way they require.

I'm just a consultant--they actually sign they checks.

--David

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Follow-Ups:

References:
can you think of an example of 'click on' used in a grammatically incorrect way?: From: Elizabeth OShea
Re: can you think of an example of 'click on' used in a grammatically incorrect way?: From: Bonnie Granat
Re: can you think of an example of 'click on' used in a grammatically incorrect way?: From: dmbrown
Re: can you think of an example of 'click on' used in a grammatically incorrect way?: From: Bonnie Granat

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