38

The terms login and logout are used inconsistently and incorrectly. The links up there in the header and the associated buttons should use the verb form log in and log out because they're actions.

Update: though fixed once, the new March 2011 popup has it wrong again.

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  • 16
    Sits down with popcorn and watches chaos ensue. Nov 10, 2009 at 12:23
  • 2
    It's all about the whitespace between the words!
    – random
    Nov 10, 2009 at 12:25
  • 8
    As someone who owns physical dictionaries and related grammar texts in the dozens, I have to agree completely with John.
    – Welbog
    Nov 10, 2009 at 12:29
  • 2
    I wonder if this will invoke the same S that Atwood was going to use with regard to the singular and plural debate? Or will this be a space he will use to beat the OP to death? :) Nov 10, 2009 at 12:29
  • 2
    @Ólafur - Oi. Share! Nov 10, 2009 at 12:32
  • 8
    @Diago hands over you want some salt with that? Soda's in the fridge. (oh wait, I'm in Iceland, everything is a fridge) Nov 10, 2009 at 12:49
  • 3
    +1 for promoting the English language. Nov 10, 2009 at 12:54
  • 7
    +1, but I prefer Sign In and Sign Out myself. Log In and Log Out is soooo old skool.
    – Kev
    Nov 10, 2009 at 13:05
  • I must admit that I switched to Sign In and Sign Out for my own Web applications a while ago. Log In/Log Out still feels a bit techie for a general audience to me. Nov 10, 2009 at 13:38
  • 6
    Unless I just loginned, I agree it's "log in".
    – user27414
    Nov 10, 2009 at 14:28
  • 3
    +1 for taking the language back.
    – mmyers
    Nov 10, 2009 at 17:00
  • 2
    Come on Jeff, so correct use of language is a feature now?! ;-) Nov 10, 2009 at 17:31
  • 2
    Can't upvote this enough. It is highly irritating to see language destroyed (and we wonder why kids bastardize the language..).
    – Ether
    Nov 11, 2009 at 16:18
  • Careers still use the one-word form. May 6, 2010 at 20:07

3 Answers 3

11

There is a number of non-english speakers logging in to StackOverflow (including me). There also is some rant about badly formulated questions, when the guys barely know the language adopted here.

If one of the aims is to satisfy the former and to decrease the latter, then the captions should be as polished as possible. I cannot judge whether "log in" form is better than "login", it's English-speaking admins who should. But it's easy to imagine that the caption was incorrect for too long because those who know the language, know where the mistake is, and those who don't, think that it's the correct way to spell it.

Fix it, please, if it's incorrect. I'm not really sure, but...

7

I find it quite ironic that we have a badge named after the highly-regarded and often-named "Bible of English Grammar" yet we cannot follow its own principles.

Here's what 20 seconds of googling turned up:

-6

While I'm not against this change, I can't muster any enthusiasm for it either. If we've gone more than a year without this being a problem in the slightest, I don't see how the next year would be any different.

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    No problem on the enthusiasm front, just get Geoff or Jarrod to do it, should only take about ten minutes! I know you love your iPhone Jeff (I <3 mine too!) and one of the things that makes it great is phenomenal attention to detail. Wouldn't this change fit in with the spirit of improving Stack Overflow just a little bit every day? Nov 10, 2009 at 18:36
  • 1
    FWIW, I would have raised it earlier if I thought it would have made a difference.
    – Ether
    Nov 11, 2009 at 16:22
  • 6
    I bet it took Jeff more time to answer this question than it would take to fix it. :)
    – Stefan
    Mar 3, 2010 at 0:03
  • 1
    Since you fixed the spelling before, maybe we can ask again: the new March 2011 popup has it wrong again.
    – Arjan
    Mar 21, 2011 at 19:00

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