Legal Research

Verbs

By Angela Swan

All Slawyers seem far more expert on computers than I. I am badly confused by the verbs that I encounter?you may have noticed that I get hung up on words; I love them and believe that they actually have or should have a precise meaning.

I am occasionally invited to ?install? a programme. When I try to do so, I am asked whether I want to ?run? it or ?save? it. Now I have lost my verb, ?install.? What do I do? Neither verb seems responsive to the invitation to install anything. If I save it, how will I even find where it is and what do I do then? If I run it, is this a one-off thing that I shall have to perform for ever? In the end I usually just give up.

I wish that those who write instructions or present options for people like me would remember that we are very ignorant and need to be lead very, very gently by the hand (and with consistent verbs).

Where do I go to find an explication of a word like “install”? Can someone direct me, please?

Full post as published by Slaw.ca on October 23, 2008 (boomark / email).