atw: Re: Oh no, not 'mouses' again! [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

Hi Janice,

It's definitely time to move on (for me at least), so my last word on this
thread is that my personal, preferred way of dealing with more than one
mouse would be to say 'mouse devices', 'each mouse', 'every mouse' etc.
depending on usage. If I came across any of these terms in a document, I
would leave them intact as long as the same term was used throughout. If,
however, I came across 'mice', I would immediately replace every instance.

But that was not the discussion. The discussion was on mice -v- mouses, not
on the alternatives or the actual need to use them (I mean, who actually
gets to write about more than one mouse these days? I haven't done so in
over a decade).

Regarding your comment "Hadn't realized until now that those publications
were serving the vast unwashed masses", I can only say that of course they
are. That's why they exist in the first place.

Like everyone else, I happily use them whenever I need to defend, clarify or
decide on something (defending 'dialog box' comes readily to mind) as I do
with the various dictionaries and other style guides (Chicago and AGSM).

Cheers,

Bruce
  



-----Original Message-----
From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Janice Gelb
Sent: Wednesday, 20 February 2008 4:09 AM
To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: atw: Re: Oh no, not 'mouses' again! [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

Bruce Ashley wrote:
> I DID try and resist ... truly ...  but I was sucked in by the dark 
> side of the force . :D
> 
>  
> 
> As for common usage, no, the term 'mouses' is not "more common now in 
> Australia for the computer devices", it has ALWAYS been more common 
> because it is the only accurate word for these devices. The only 
> reason there has EVER been any doubt is the vast unwashed masses who 
> didn't know how to use it correctly. :P
> 

Whenever I see phrases like "the only accurate word" in discussion like
this, I cringe. Phrasing like "most common in the industry," "cited in most
dictionaries," "found in X, Y, and Z sources" work for me. Claiming that one
particular usage, even if found in a few sources, is the One True Phrase
doesn't really work in an industry as volatile as ours.

Several people noted that the Microsoft Manual of Style prefers "mouse
devices" and I indicated that Read Me First and also Sun internal style use
this phrase as well. Hadn't realized until now that those publications were
serving the "vast unwashed masses."

-- Janice

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