Who's to say login can't become a verb? "Google" and "email" did. Busily propping up websites like this with guides and corrections is like a finger in the dike.
Blindly accepting all changes goes too far in the other direction. People can write however they like, but people with an interest in communicating clearly in written English usually adopt a middle way by developing their own style based on a mixture of conventions they've been exposed to. For example, I typically write in semi-formal US English influenced heavily by the Chicago Manual of Style.
There's a beauty in having standards in order to make certain categories of text (such as work e-mails, quotes, or newspaper articles) easier to read and understand, but there's also a beauty in having multiple standards that are flexible and can slowly adapt to changing tastes over time. No-one is fixed in how they have to do things.
I don't believe we should encourage people with an interest in communicating clearly in written English to simply "do what they're going to do" but to appreciate the gamut of professional written English and to try and stretch the boundaries of it little by little, without falling into heavy use of slang or neologisms. Written English is a different beast to everyday, casual speech.
The English language moves, for sure. I believe, however, the vaguely defined standards of formal English shouldn't be ignored, changed too rapidly, or pushed in too many directions at once. It takes people time to keep up and, at the end of the day, clear communication is what it's all about.
On top of that, the fact of the matter is that we use different "languages" in different domains. When writing something for a public or semi-public audience, I do think there should be a formal specification for English so that you can KNOW deterministically if your composition is correct. For verbal conversation it's unreasonable to expect people to conform to a formal grammar. For instant messaging it's apparently unreasonable (or at least hopeless) to expect any resemblance to "formal" English.
I argue is already has
"Google" and "email" don't contain prepositions.
I log in. You log in. We all logged in.
I login. You login. We all logined. What? We all loggedined? We all loggedin?
If we just acknowledge that "login" is a noun referring to your credentials, where as "log in" (or "log on") means to supply one's login/credentials, then it's all hunky-dory.
Plenty of linguists would admit 'login' as a verb. There is very little difficulty in accepting that 'to log in' and 'to login' mean the same thing.
In this case "in" does not function as a preposition, it is part of the verb. The evidence for this is immediately apparent when we consider that "to log" and "to log in" really are two different activities. We do not mean that we record anything when we login to a machine, what we are doing is obtaining access to it by means of an exchange of previously established authenticating information - and while this step may involve making a record of our login, it need not for the basic sense of that action to remain intact.
Also, we have no trouble with a multi-word verbs in English, if you don't believe me, try googling 'phrasal verbs'. This article is either a gag, or really is just an example prescriptavist nonsense which attempts in futility to combat the last 50 years of linguistic consensus.
If only. According to the James Study of Casual TV Activity, "log on" means "visit this Web site". Any use of user name or password is coincidental.
E.g "Log on to CNN.com for all the latest headlines."
It's a lost cause. I'm saving my energy to preserve the distinction among "few", "fewer", "less", and "lesser".
Sure, languages change over time and so on, but there's already a verb "loose", meaning "release", more or less.
When I become a billionaire and there are trespassers on my estate, I want to be able to cry "Loose the hounds!" without my overly-subservient toady thinking he should misplace them.
Even more remarkable is that native speakers use these constructions all of the time, yet the idea of a phrasal verb is apparently not taught in school.
It's just one of the ways languages mutate. Usually the noun form mutates first, and later on the verb form, but not always.
Wait, what? American language? Deprecated predecessor? Somebody really seems to hate the English people. The name of the language is still English. American English. Just as the language they speak in Australia is Australian English. See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language#Countries_in_o...
It takes away from his otherwise, carefully constructed argument.
About 33,300 results
About 224,000,000 results
"First they came for the verbs, and I said nothing
because verbing weirds language. Then they arrival
for the nouns, and I speech nothing because I no
verbs."
-- Peter Ellis.
Calvin: I like to verb words.
Hobbes: What?
Calvin: I take nouns and adjectives and use them
as verbs. Remember when "access" was a thing?
Now, it's something you do. It got verbed.
Verbing weirds language.
Hobbes: Maybe we can eventually make language a
complete impediment to understanding.Here's a visual aid: http://www.flickr.com/photos/riggzy/3177839298/
Also see meanings 6 and 13 at http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/log.
...we can't let one little conjugation problem make thousands of programmers and technical writers look like fools
"login is not a verb" + "many websites use it as a navigation element" != "programmers look like fools"
I could use a simple door with an arrow image for logging in as well. That image is not a word at all. Yet it would still serve as an effective navigation element.
Also, who says that all websites intend for it to be a verb anyway? I have another navigation called "account". I do not want users to account the site. I simply want them to know that is the account page. Likewise, "login" signifies that is the link to the login page, for which this article granted that it may be used as a noun.
Ok, I've spent entirely too much time on this subject.
It simply is.
Example: Please login to comment. Example: Please exit to your right.
Yeah, that's what I thought.