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Jul 2023
9:24pm, 8 Jul 2023
11,771 posts
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sallykate
It's imperative in Swedish: "Acceptera alla", for example.
I think so, anyway...certainly not a form which would take a subject.
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Jul 2023
9:28pm, 8 Jul 2023
21,767 posts
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RichHL
I've always read the English as an imperative because tech companies are sods.
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Jul 2023
10:32pm, 8 Jul 2023
62,789 posts
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LindsD
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Jul 2023
11:15pm, 8 Jul 2023
3,138 posts
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Steve NordRunner
FWIW, Norwegian is ambiguous if the verb is “accept” lit. “take for good” (the infinitive and imperative are the same) but imperative if the verb is “consent” lit. “think together”. Both verbs are used.
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Jul 2023
6:11am, 9 Jul 2023
95 posts
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Charlesvdw
It's just a choice: accept all cookies or reject all cookies. And you choose one. It's not an imperative.
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Jul 2023
9:29am, 9 Jul 2023
22,550 posts
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ChrisHB
There are difficulties with the first & second persons in the internet. When I posted a poll every day for a year, a couple of years ago, it wasn't clear to me whether I should put the responses in the first or second person:
Compare the unproblematic
Do you prefer dogs to cats?
yes
no
and
Ultra-Low Emissions Zones
I am in favour
I am against
and
Ultra-Low Emissions Zones
You are in favour
You are against
and the problem is that if I use the first person I am putting words into your mouth, and if I use the second person I am requiring you to answer in the second person. In writing the polls I usually started off with the second person and corrected(?) it to the first person.
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Also I notice that imperatives range from 'this is the rule' (Keep Left) to a one-off event (Stand up!). I'm sure there is a lt more to say about that and how it may or may not match with the use of the infinitive in other languages.
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Thirdly, 'Accept all' isn't unique - it sits alongside 'Buy now', 'Find out more' and others.
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Jul 2023
9:38am, 9 Jul 2023
7,527 posts
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um
Chris - re the examples. I think the first two are fine. The third is just wrong (to me), and also, I don't know how to answer since I don't know how feel about them.
But English is a language where we can take short cuts, miss words etc. I was gently corrected whenever I tried to shorten things in French (spoken or written) that anything other than the right way was wrong, and I couldn't just drop articles or pronouns. Especially on forms or screen displays and headings.
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Jul 2023
12:35pm, 9 Jul 2023
16,384 posts
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Badger
Interesting. I'd always taken it to be an abbreviation of "Please press this button to accept all cookies", but that wouldn't be an imperative form, would it? I have equipment at work with toggle buttons labelled On/Off and Start/Stop, and those are probably even more complicated to parse.
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Jul 2023
12:42pm, 9 Jul 2023
16,385 posts
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Badger
The ones that really irritate me are the ones with options like "Yes please!" and "Maybe later!", where the only sane option is "No, and never ask me that again."
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Jul 2023
12:56pm, 9 Jul 2023
3,141 posts
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Steve NordRunner
“Please …” is just imperative cloaked in politeness, to take the edge off.
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