Re: Use of the word "the" in figure captions

[Janice Gelb <janiceg -at- MARVIN -dot- ENG -dot- SUN -dot- COM>]

>
> >I can't see
> > why "Alert dialog box" doesn't do this equally as well as
> > "The Alert dialog box."
>
> Well, it sounds kinda funny--is the dialog box alert? Are you alerting
> someone to the presence of a dialog box?
>

This is secondary to the main point but why does "The Alert
dialog box" solve the "is the dialog box alert?" question?

My point is that we're talking about figure captions: a caption
under the illustration of a dialog box that says "Alert dialog
box" doesn't seem to me to be at all confusing as to what it
is trying to say.

> I don't see this as a big major deal, but I do think that including
> the article is less likely to cause confusion--although I doubt that
> anyone would be much confused by either form. It comes right down to
> preference and what sounds better to you.

I'm not so sure it comes down to individual preference. I haven't
seen an argument so far that justifies the presence of an article
that seems superfluous. You're right that its presence won't
be confusing but I'm not sure that's enough of a rationale.

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