In our December issue, we asked how you refer to the following:
• Web site — 38% (175 votes)
• Website — 6% (26 votes)
• web site — 18% (81 votes)
• website — 38% (175 votes)
• I use another form. — 0% (2 votes)
What You Said
• “We don’t say ‘constructionsite’ so why say ‘website’? What’s wrong or confusing about a simple adjective and noun spelled as two separate words?”
• “Associated Press Stylebook 2001 uses ‘Web site,’ so that works for me.”
• “In verbal usage, it sounds and is used just like a compound noun. Capitalizing ‘web’ seems silly, as ‘web’ does not behave like a proper noun, nor is it used as such, colloquially.”
• “I checked Web site as the most classical form, and that is what I enforce in formal documents. But in working drafts I also permit website for author comfort level. I am starting to consider allowing web site because it is so prevalent ‘out there.’ And it is true that not all sites are accessible through the Internet World-Wide Web, and the intended sense of ‘web’ is usually recognizable from the context.
• “I think the preference toward ‘website’ is an example of the language in evolution. As familiarity increases, so does the formulation of the term. Typically language puts two words together, but increased usage leads to one word composed of the two separate words. I think the original concept becomes slightly modified, i.e. a web site is more tentative than a website.”
For other comments, see the “Corrigo Supplement” section of the TE SIG Web site (www.stcsig.org/te/newsletter/supplement/index.asp).