Re: OFFLINE OF OFF-LINE??

["Marlene J. Geary" <marlene -at- NECA -dot- COM>]

Dear Mike:

When deciding on those two words in our yearly word standards meeting, my
group decided to go with Microsoft's Computer Dictionary, which uses
"offline" and "online" as one word.

We also considered that while we might choose "on-line" per every OTHER
dictionary we consulted, we knew that our users might not be as diligent in
checking references manuals as we were.  We figured that because most folk
are used to those spellings as one, non-hyphenated word (e.g. "America
Online), we'd be perceived as "spelling it wrong" if we used a hyphen.  We
didn't necessarily want to succumb (sp?) to "peer pressure" but it was
something to consider.

Then, we found a writing manual that said "go with the colloquial spelling"
of the word if the choice between hyphenation or not became a serious issue
of confusion.  We then came to the conclusion that 'YEP', this was one of
those issues, and stuck with one, non-hyphenated word.


Hope this helps!
Marlene

{yes, we bring a bottle of Advil and a bunch of reference books to the meeting!}



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|  Marlene J. Geary  |  I sing because my heart  |  Writer/Editor  |
|       "Mars"       |   demands it and would    |       DISC      |
|  marlene -at- neca -dot- com  |     break without it.     |  Farmington, CT |
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