RE: Do you log on or logon to a website?

Subject: RE: Do you log on or logon to a website?
From: "Hadley, Tim" <tim -dot- hadley -at- ttu -dot- edu>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2005 12:14:17 -0500


Lisa asks, >Do users log onto, on to, into, or in to a website? Or do users logon or
login to a website.

Technically speaking, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (I think it's the latest) gives "log on" (or log in)--that is, 2 words, no hyphen--as the verb form, and "log-on"--the hyphenated form--as the noun. This is the fairly standard dictionary treatment, I think, though "logon," the no-hyphen form, is also widely accepted as the noun form. As for whether to use "on" or "in," I don't think it matters.

What is not correct, imho, but is unfortunately very widely seen, is the use of "logon" (non-hyphenated) and similar forms as a verb. Perhaps these distinctions have already moved beyond my dictionary-headed mind set, though I think of myself as hip and with it and willing to change with the times. But so far, "logon" as a verb still grates unacceptably. As Jesse Ventura might say, Do I stand alone? To me, "log on" is a verb and "log-on" is a noun.

Tim

Tim Hadley
Graduate Assistant, Graduate School Fellowships and Scholarships
Ph.D. candidate, Technical Communication and Rhetoric
Texas Tech University



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

WEBWORKS FINALDRAFT - EDIT AND REVIEW, REDEFINED
Accelerate the document lifecycle with full online discussions and unique feedback-management capabilities. Unlimited, efficient reviews for Word
and FrameMaker authors. Live, online demo:
http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.



Follow-Ups:

Previous by Author: The importance of good documentation
Next by Author: Re: Documenting Hardware....yikes
Previous by Thread: RE: Do you log on or logon to a website?
Next by Thread: Re: Do you log on or logon to a website?


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads