On 30 July 2014 20:51, Anthony Harrington <untaintablean...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote: > On 30/07/14 20:23, Bruno Girin wrote: >> On 30 July 2014 18:51, J Fernyhough <j.fernyho...@gmail.com> wrote: >> On 30 July 2014 18:11, Alan Lord (News) <alansli...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> On 30/07/14 17:49, Dave Morley wrote: >>>> On Wed, 30 Jul 2014 17:41:21 +0100 >>>> Alan Pope <a...@popey.com> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> "Alphabetise Desktop Icons"... >>>>>> >>>>> OED says yes :) >>>>> >>>>> http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/alphabetize?q=alphabetise >>>>> >>>>> Cheers, >>>>> Al. >>> >>> Oh god. I give up. >>> >>> Why don't we just 'ise every noun and turn it into a verb then? >>> >>> The yanks have a lot to answer for. >>> >>> Bah humbug. >>> >>> Al >> >> >> I think the term is now "verbise". >> >> (I agree it's not stylistically en_GB. I don't see what's wrong with the >> established "Sort desktop icons by name") > > > I agree. I immediately understand "Sort desktop icons by name" while I have > to think twice to understand "Alphabetise Desktop Icons" so I'd prefer the > former as it's more explicit. > > Bruno > > Isn't 'sort desktop icons by name' a bit wordy/long though? You are > essentially 'alphabetising' them? > >
I'll lean on my teaching experience here. While "Sort desktop icons by name" has more words it's far easier to understand and process. Sort desktop icons by name It makes sense and all words are one or two syllables. "Alphabetise" is not only a difficult word to read, it's too long to read in one go (people read primarily by word shape not by individual letters; also notice how you (probably) have to move your eyes to read "alpha" and "betise" separately). Finally, I'd argue the actual length difference is negligible: Alphabetise = 11 chars Sort by name = 12 chars inc. spaces "Never utilise a lengthier word on the occasion a shorter equivalent will suffice." Jonathon -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
