I’m reading a manual right now instructing one to “press” the enter key.  However, both press and depress appear to be correct, as explained in the question         Click “submit” or press the enter key.   Click “submit” or depress the enter key.      I know that depress is the less commonly used one of these two, at least as a verb). But technically speaking, which is the more correct word to use?
123249
In several books that mention GUI, keyboard, or mouse buttons (e.g. the book Programming Windows by Charles Petzold), the authors refer to the state of a pressed button as depressed. Why is this term used instead of the word pressed, which has a simple and intuitive meaning?   Some alternative terms that could be a better fit are pushed, clicked, or activated. As someone who is not a native-English speaker, the term depressed is unintuitive to me because it resembles the opposite meaning:  not pressed.
22242
I'm in a bit of a verbiage bind. I have a form for a request cancellation. I cannot change the wording on that. The word cancel HAS to be used.  The button bellow sits in the footer of a card. Unfortunately, I cannot show you the rest of the card for context.      Clicking that button brings up the above form in the footer of the card.  The pattern shown here (form input on one line, followed by a cancel and submit button with the below styles and ordering) is used across the application. This is another non negotiable. Clicking that cancel button collapses the form back into the original button ("Cancel Request").  As you can probably tell as this point, I have a Cancel-Cancel-Conundrum. I need a better word than cancel for that form button, but I'm having trouble thinking of something. I was thinking something along the lines of "Exit" but that feels a little weird.
50535
How do you tell if caps lock is on using JavaScript?  One caveat though: I did google it and the best solution I could find was to attach an onkeypress event to every input, then check each time if the letter pressed was uppercase, and if it was, then check if shift was also held down. If it wasn't, therefore caps lock must be on. This feels really dirty and just... wasteful - surely there's a better way than this?
62423
I've seen both these forms used and I was wondering, is either of them incorrect or are they interchangeable?     You can download something ON your device.      You can download something ONTO your device.
36837
For example,   If this van's a-rockin', don't come a-knockin'  (song title)   (song title)   I have a few related questions:   What is the "a-" or "-a" called? Is there a function beyond a rhythmic one? Why is "a-" attached to a word at all -- and why attach to a word at all?
23311
When dealing with abbreviations, should you parenthesize the abbreviation or its expansion? I have seen it both ways. Can anyone make a good case for preferring one style over the other?
66709
“You are” vs. “you're” — what is the difference between them?  I get confused between the two a lot. I want to understand how to use them appropriately, because I hate making mistakes.
41842
I remember when staying a few months in the US years ago that I saw some people using the abbreviations below. However, I can't exactly remember in which contexts I encountered them, (whether I saw my teachers using them when writing something on the board, in papers or in personal notes etc.)  So my question is: Are those abbreviations below commonly used and in which contexts is it okay to use them (e.g. formal texts, personal notes,... or better only used in personal note taking?)         w/o without   w/ with   b/c because      PS: Are there similar abbreviations that are commonly used?
113733
I'm writing some documentation for a web-based application that will run on Android tablets at the factory at which I am employed.  I am having trouble wording the steps where the users must interact with the onscreen buttons via touch.  For example "1. Enter or scan your clock number and then"... "click the button", "press the button"?  Click sounds most natural to me, but it still doesn't "feel" right.    Is the word "click" ubiquitous while explaining interaction with an onscreen button regardless of if there is a mouse involved?
31962
How does one correctly use a semicolon?  It is probably one of the more difficult punctuation marks to master in my opinion.
19676
I often catch myself trying to write ?explaination, phonetically spelling the word in my head. To my chagrin I get part way through and have to stop myself.  So I’m wondering why is the i dropped? I can’t think of other words ending ‑ain that take the ‑ation suffix for comparison.
119866
Sometimes, when I get emotional. I get in a situation when only talking can lead in a burst of tears, so I try to prevent it and I feel like crying is on hold inside my throat.  Is there an expression in English that sums it up? or a sentence that describes it well?   I hope I could define well the situation. Thank you.
19829
I generally run Linux. I use Vim a lot, so the Escape key is extremely important. I also use other keyboard shortcuts a lot, so Control is "key" as well. On Linux, I've solved this by using  to map the Caps lock key to Escape if pressed by itself, or Control if pressed in combination with another key. This puts the best of both worlds within quick reach of my pinky finger. Is there any way I can do this on a Mac?
78803
In the context of computers or websites, when should one use click or click on?   Click (on) the right mouse button Click (on) the word 'Download' Click (on) the Start button Click (on) here for more information
5900
99% of the time, I'm clear on when I should use "a" versus "an." There's one case, though, where people &amp; references I respect disagree.  Which of the following would you precede with "a" or "an," and why?   FAQ FUBAR SCUBA   [Note: I've read the questions  and , but the rules given there don't necessarily apply here.]    [Edited to add]  Here's a shorter (and hopefully clearer) version of the question…  In written English, which is correct (and why): "a FAQ" or "an FAQ"?  Some references with differing opinions:   an: the  and  a: the Microsoft Manual of Style for Tech Publications, 3e either: the  and
14881
In , I learned that "to decimate" meant to reduce by 10% (hope I got that right).  And it is lamented that no-one uses it in this sense anymore.  Now, given that I never until today knew that it once had this meaning: was it ever even used this way in modern times?  When was it last used in a mainstream publication in this sense?
4783
When you are trying to say that something is automatically filled in, you use the word autofill, or if you were using past tense, autofilled.    I see 3 main ways that people use it:   auto fill / auto filled  auto-fill / auto-filled autofill / autofilled   Note: this also applies to pre fill, pre-fill, and prefill as well.  Which way is the most preferred spelling?