Internet, Web, and Other Post-Watergate Concerns
Q. What is the correct usage of “login” and “logout”? I haven’t found a reference to the issue anywhere in Chicago’s manual, and my Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary does not list either of these as words at all. The AP Stylebook lists these words in its Internet guidelines, but doesn’t define whether it condones this usage in verb form.
A. We would write “log in” (or “log on”) and “log out” (or “log off”); furthermore, we’d hyphenate the adjective form: “log-in page.” It matters little that when these words have been used as commands or prompts on computer screens they’ve been closed up. Besides, computer applications seem to be going more and more toward a sort of “natural language” environment. I hope this means better grammar in the future. By the way, a very up-to-date Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, available at http://www.merriam-webster.com/, agrees with us—and vice versa.
