Online and offline are hyphenated inconsistently: "online" is spelled as such in most places; "off-line" is spelled as such in most places. This makes things look weird when the two are displayed side-by-side, as on the site maintenance page for instance.

I suggest that online stay the same and off-line drop its hyphen. Rationale:

  • Online is most commonly used today as an unhyphenated word (by my judgment and Google search); on-line seems stilted.
  • Offline is also most commonly used today as an unhyphenated word (by my judgment and Google search). It is recognized by the American Heritage Dictionary as the first spelling, Random House Unabridged Dictionary as the second spelling, and Merriam-Webster as not a spelling at all. So dictionary opinions vary, but it is recognized as valid by the majority.
  • Dropping the hyphen will save bytes. (just kidding)
CommentFileSizeAuthor
consistent_offline_and_online_hyphenation.patch22.34 KBthreexk

Comments

threexk’s picture

threexk commented
Status: Active » Needs review
keith.smith’s picture

keith.smith commented

I support this patch because it introduces some additional consistency and removes a hyphen that, although it in some cases is just as proper depending on whom one consults, is rather unnecesary. The way we do "e-mail" is another possible case for a similar change.

catch’s picture

catch
he/him
Primary language English
commented
Category: feature » bug

Yay consistency.

catch’s picture

catch
he/him
Primary language English
commented
Status: Needs review » Reviewed & tested by the community

Meant to set RTBC.

dries’s picture

dries commented
Status: Reviewed & tested by the community » Fixed

Committed to CVS HEAD. Thanks.

Anonymous’s picture

Anonymous (not verified) commented
Status: Fixed » Closed (fixed)

Automatically closed -- issue fixed for two weeks with no activity.