TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Exit & Shut down From:David Oberstadt <daveo -at- VNET -dot- IBM -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 24 Jun 1994 14:08:01 PDT
MS Windows indeed has 'Exit' on the menu.
OS/2has 'Shut down'--two words. I have never heard anybody
say 'Shut OS/2 down' always 'Shut down OS/2'. I don't see
anything bad with splitting the two words, in the formal
context of documentation, I suggest keeping them together.
As somebody suggested, this can really help translators, too.
There are combinations that are inappropriate *not* to split.
You can shut a business down or shut down a business, OTOH
you can shut me up, but you cannot shut up me. (Maybe you can,
but I don't know what it means.) Is something going on here
that is beyond idiomatic expressions?
David Oberstadt Santa Teresa Lab
daveo -at- vnet -dot- ibm -dot- com San Jose, California