Re: on vs in

[David Jones/KSBEISD <David_Jones/KSBEISD -dot- KSBEISD -at- DATAHUB -dot- COM>]

Once dski @ CAMEONET.CAMEO.COM.TW said:
>Back when folks said and wrote what came naturally, commands and other
information were invariably described as being "in" this menu or that menu.

Then the sharpies moved in and decided that every trace of abstraction
should be removed from computer screens and descriptions of them. Everything
must look like, and be treated as, a familiar physical object.

"On the menu" started creeping into software manuals.<

I don't think "sharpies" came in and did that. As far back as I can remember --
which is longer than I care to admit, thank you -- I've always heard that a
restaurant's food items were "on the menu." I've never heard it described as
"in the menu." Seems to me that the more natural way of saying would be "on."

FWIW.

David Jones, Technical Writer
David_Jones/KSBEISD -dot- KSBEISD -at- Datahub -dot- com
Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate

DISCLAIMER:
"I do not speak for my employer, my computer, or any other living thing."

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