Live data from Hacker News

"Login" is not a verb

loginisnotaverb.com

11–20 of 67 posts

Re: "Login" is not a verb

#13
I think it's almost silly to admit "log in" has the correct meaning and then quibble about the orthography. I'd contend that it very much is a verb in the same vein of phrasal and separable verbs as found in, e.g., German and English. The fact that to log and to login are different is curious enough. If I were a betting man, I'd say this is part of a lexical entry that composes the verb, and being non-finite, is left in its generated position as the finite portion becomes tensed. Regardless, usage trumps all.

Re: "Login" is not a verb

#14

I'm beginning to think that linguistic prescriptivism is going to have a hard time holding up against the crazy mixing bowl that is the Internet and, to a wider extent, globalization. It's fun to play grammar nazi and all, but I've started to resign to the fact that people are simply going to do what they're going to do. Look at the state of English only a couple centuries ago. Language evolves quickly. Who's to say…

I've started to resign to the fact that people are simply going to do what they're going to do. Look at the state of English only a couple centuries ago. Language evolves quickly.

Blindly accepting all changes goes too far in the other direction. People can write however they like, but people with an interest in communicating clearly in written English usually adopt a middle way by developing their own style based on a mixture of conventions they've been exposed to. For example, I typically write in semi-formal US English influenced heavily by the Chicago Manual of Style.

There's a beauty in having standards in order to make certain categories of text (such as work e-mails, quotes, or newspaper articles) easier to read and understand, but there's also a beauty in having multiple standards that are flexible and can slowly adapt to changing tastes over time. No-one is fixed in how they have to do things.

I don't believe we should encourage people with an interest in communicating clearly in written English to simply "do what they're going to do" but to appreciate the gamut of professional written English and to try and stretch the boundaries of it little by little, without falling into heavy use of slang or neologisms. Written English is a different beast to everyday, casual speech.

The English language moves, for sure. I believe, however, the vaguely defined standards of formal English shouldn't be ignored, changed too rapidly, or pushed in too many directions at once. It takes people time to keep up and, at the end of the day, clear communication is what it's all about.

Re: "Login" is not a verb

#17

Not worth getting upset about. Personally, I'm more concerned that we're going to lose the word "lose". Everywhere I look, I see people sticking an extra o in there. "You loose" etc.

I suggest a new, combined form: looose. The meaning will be drawn from context. I anticipate efficiency improvements world-wide.

Re: "Login" is not a verb

#18
Cute, but English has tens of thousands of "phrasal verbs": Stand up, stand down, stand out, stand over, stand against, understand.

Even more remarkable is that native speakers use these constructions all of the time, yet the idea of a phrasal verb is apparently not taught in school.

Post reply on HN