Re: filesystem or file system?

Subject: Re: filesystem or file system?
From: Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Sun, 15 Aug 2004 16:16:13 +0000


Lee Hunter wrote:

Bruce Byfield wrote:

> At any event, in talking about spelling, "correct" is a concept that has very limited relevance. Writers should be more concerned about what the audience expects.

Yes.

That's how spelling changes. At first, a new spelling is strange and considered incorrect, then it gradually catches on and becomes acceptable.


The problem is that an audience is made up of individuals. Is a spelling right just because a majority uses it? What happens when
members of the minority, users who may very well be more literate and sophisticated, recognize it as incorrect?

Then they complain about the lowering of standards, a few insist on spelling it the way that they have declared is correct, then complain even more about how their expertise is ignored.

Seriously, prescriptive grammar has never been very successful in imposing its standards. Nor, in my opinion, should it ever be. Prescriptive grammar is all about writing correctly. Despite the claims of its advocates, it has nothing to do with writing well. You can follow all the rules of prescriptive grammar and write correctly, and still write a dull or useless piece of work. By contrast, you can write something riddled with mistakes and inconsistencies, and still write effectively or thoroughly. Obviously, the conscientious try to minimize the mistakes so as not to distract from what they are saying, but that is more a matter of consistency than of always following prescriptive rules.

At any rate, to describe the minority as "literate and sophisticated" is a circular argument. In this context, both words mean "well-versed in the standards of the minority." So, really, what you are saying is that they know what they know. Grammar isn't like the laws of physics; there is no external, objective frame of reference for determining what is right.

You might be interested in my article on the subject at:

http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/magazine/writing/grammar.html



And even if "filesystem" was far more common, I think it could be argued that "file system" is easier for anyone to read. This can be especially true for ESL readers who may lack the intuitive sense of where to break a compound word.

In the case of ESL readers, you may have a good reason for splitting the word - unless, of course, they are used to seeing it as one word in technical English. It all depends on your audience.


--
Bruce Byfield
http://members.axion.net/~bbyfield

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Follow-Ups:

References:
RE: filesystem or file system?: From: Johan Hiemstra
Re: filesystem or file system?: From: Bruce Byfield
Re: filesystem or file system?: From: Lee Hunter

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