Re: is it "backwards" or "backward" compatible?

[<neilson -at- windstream -dot- net>]

Linda Sims answered Melissa's question authoritatively:
> 
> Well, FOLDOC lists "backward compatible" but not "backwards compatible". 
> It's not the OED, but it is usually pretty accurate with respect to tech 
> jargon.
> 
> http://foldoc.org/?query=backward+compatibility

Google gives a slight edge in popularity to backward, but this topic is one
of those horrid, little pieces of English that's not well settled. My own
view is that "backward compatible" is the correct choice. I've tried saying
"backward" and "backwards" to myself in various phrases to see which has
the better euphony. "I'm walking backwards for Christmas," "I went backward
in time to 1957." No real difference, to my ear, although I think the Goons
did walk backwards, not backward.

But listen to this: "His solution to the ecological problem is backward."
(That is, it's done in a way inappropriate to the present time, and
probably failing to take advantage of current knowledge.) However, "His
solution to the ecological problem is backwards." (Now it means he is
taking the wrong end of the solution first, like perhaps killing off all
the string beans and marigolds in his attempt to eliminate only the dreaded
purple voitch.)

--Peter Neilson


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