- From: David Perrell <davidp@earthlink.net>
- Date: Thu, 4 Jul 1996 13:58:18 -0700
- To: "'www-html@w3.org'" <www-html@w3.org>
James Aylett wrote: > On Wed, 3 Jul 1996, David Perrell wrote: > ... >> Replace GUTTER with COLSPACE. GUTTER historically refers to the bound >> white space between pages (there's a logical analogy here), not between >> columns on a page. Someone expanded the definition in an Aldus Pagemaker > ... >Yes, but to be fair now that it's commonly used as that, it is effectively >correct (that's how English evolves, after all :-) Devolutionary deterioration. When meanings are diffused, communication becomes less precise. If the context is entirely different, as with gutter as a drain and gutter as the bound edge of two pages, there's no problem. But gutter as column spacing? This could be a source of confusion. How about a new word? It's a column interval, right? A colin? Soundwise, there's a modicum of metaphorical correspondence, as in "white space flows through the gutter" and "white space flows through the colin." More seriously, it's memorable. David
Received on Thursday, 4 July 1996 16:58:53 UTC