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Subject:RE: Dialogue or dialog? From:"Thomas Quine" <quinet -at- home -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 16 Nov 2000 09:02:11 -0800
> Dialogue is the British/Canadian spelling of Dialog. The MS Manual of
Style
> says don't use it. (Arrogance!)
> The MS Manual of Style also says don't use dialog when you mean dialog
box -
> it's jargon. Here they're quite correct.
> A dialog box is so called because it is a box that facilitates a dialog
> between the user and the system. Usually a dialog box asks a question and
> requires a response - hence, dialog.
> The dialog is the discussion, not the box the discussion takes place in.
> That's why referring to a dialog box as a "dialog" is jargon born of
> laziness, and yes, computer programmers are more guilty of inventing this
> sort of jargon than others (speaking as a former programmer...) What do
you
> expect from people who consistently spell "Customer Number" as "CustNo"?
> I was pretty disappointed when I noticed that RoboHELP uses "dialog"
> throughout its documentation. To me it's just wrong and it grates on my
> ears...
> - Thom
> www.documen.com
>
Subject: RE: Dialogue or dialog?
Offhand, I would say 'dialogue' is a conversation between two people,
whereas 'dialog' is a software object (without window controls) that
displays on a computer screen. Begging the answer, 'window' is a software
object with window controls (window controls can include minimize, restore,
maximize, help and close).
Am I right? I don't know.
Barb Einarsen
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