OK, Enough is Enough

[gnomi]

Dear folks that write radio ad copy,

That thingy in Web addresses, the "/"? That is a virgule, AKA a slash. It is not, I repeat *not*, a back slash. If someone were to type the Web address with a backslash, they wouldn't get anywhere. To show you the difference, here's a back slash: \. Here, in fact, are multiple: \\\\\\. They should never appear in URLs. Never ever.

And why is it that you can say "www.blahblah.com-slash-purplemonkey" but then you say "backslash-dishwasher"? I mean, if you look at the URL, it's the same punctuation mark. Trust me.

In the name of punctuation clarity and proper punctuation identity,

--Me

Comments

[tober.livejournal.com]

IHNJ IJLS "virgule" - but in a just world, the virgule would not be a punctuation mark but a slightly obscure musical instrument, probably in the brass family.

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

Maybe they're writing backslash fiction? (Maybe I don't want to know what that is....)

[jonbaker.livejournal.com]

Instead of man on man, it's man on man.

Or instead of
character-of-higher-rank/character-of-lower-rank, it's
character-of-lower-rank\character-of-higher-rank.

JB, slash widower

[mbarr.livejournal.com]

They're too used to windows. Windows uses backslashes for it's directory marks, vs the unix world & the web.

Well, old skool windows. And they systems can still convert slash urls to backslash paths. It's just wierd.

People got in really bad habits years ago with backslash.

[thespisgeoff.livejournal.com]

Mmmhmm. My thoughts exactly.

[jenwrites.livejournal.com]

You were just listening to WFNX, weren't you?

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Why, yes! I was! :-)

[jenwrites.livejournal.com]

I love Big Jim, but the boy needs to learn his slashes.

[sorek.livejournal.com]

.COMMMMMMMMMMMM!

[popfiend.livejournal.com]

My line...she has been stolen.

/whine

[gilana]

Are you sure it's not a solidus?

(And yes, that drives me insane as well.)

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

Witness also the Ookla the Mok song www.monkeysong.com, which makes this error.

[moneypenny.livejournal.com]

I don't understand -- what do people think of when they think of the word "slash"? For me, it is the correct marker, the /. While using "virgule" is a little impractical for the purposes of mass communication, using "back-slash" seems completely counter-intuitive, in addition to taking longer to say.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I'm really not sure. But I've heard, more than once, something along the lines of "So go to our website, www dot blahblah dot com backslash monkey," when they clearly mean "...slash monkey."

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

Well said!

[quarkwiz.livejournal.com]

Back when I had delusions of becoming an MCSE, I had to call the local Sylvan centre to schedule my tests. The recording that played anytime the office was closed gave instructions on how to reach a certain area of their website. You guessed it--any time a slash was needed, the recording specified a backslash instead. I got so tired of hearing that when I called that I left them a message. Next time I called, it no longer said 'backslash.' It said 'forward-slash.' Urgh, Microsoft.