Cite?
(that’s a joke)
It looks like the two of you are arguing about which specialized field of linguistics is the real linguistics. It’s like arguing that the elephant is a rope—no, the elephant is a wall!
No, it’s like a tree
Or asking a zoologist what the best animal is!
That was a joke.
Installation gets shortened to install
invitation gets shortened to invite
Moderators gets shortened to mods
(If I’d actually thought there was a moderation issue, I’d have reported it.)
I don’t like it shortened. Change it back.
One of my all time favorite SNL skits featured a take off on an American Express advert (if you aren’t old enough to have seen the original ad, it isn’t that funny - but if you remember the original advertisement in which an American Express customer loses his card and calls a kind, reassuring AE agent who solves everything for him on the spot, it’s hysterical.)
Anyway, the Roseanne character says, “If I’ve got that kind of power over time and space, what am I doing talking to a loser like you at 3 in the morning?”
Similarly - if I have that kind of power over time and space, what am I doing talking to strangers on the internet?
But if somehow get that power, I promise to change it back for you 
Ah, sorry, I’m just slow today.
But that does give me a lot of insight into why people say “install” for “installation”. My guess is that any word that’s long and clunky and that gets used a lot has a lot of pressure to be shortened. And English allows that kind of shortening. So… Can you do the install for me?
It began because I had to do a preemptive repair on my air conditioner. Youtube videos were about “a/c installs” which annoyed me. So I cursorily looked up “install v installation” and saw this:
“Unfortunately, many use “install” when they should use “installer” or “installation”. I believe that the use of “install” instead of “installer” or “installation” when one of the latter is appropriate represents a laziness that favors easier-to-pronounce words. The word “install”, at two syllables, is simpler to say and write than are “installer” and “installation”, at three or four syllables, respectively.
This use of a verb as a noun (e.g., The install went well. or Download the install from our website.) when there are perfectly good “-er” and “-tion” nouns is not only lazy but also confusing.
For example, *Do you have a copy of the install?*could mean:
- Do you have a copy of the installer?
–or- - Do you have a copy of the installation?
Other examples abound these days.
Solution:
Use “install” when you want to refer placing in position; use “installer” when you want to refer to the thing or person who installs something; use “installation” when you want to refer to the act of installing or to that which has been installed.”
That prompted me to ask the question here, not entirely seriously noting the “linguists considered… prescriptive” thread.
So for those who spent their “important” time answering, I can paypal you some money
Of course linguists study language as a human endeavor. One of Chomsky’s main preoccupations was the extent that humans are hard wired to learn languages, by which he meant primarily syntax.
“Principle of least effort,” maybe? Somewhat akin to Occam’s Razor. If it’s shorter, but still conveys the same meaning, why not? Althought it might not be appropriate for technical or formal writing.
If you’re in the business of installing things, it would probably get tedious saying “installment” over and over again, and there would be little chance of confusion among those workers. They just need to remember that the general public won’t be familiar with their jargon.
I feel “install” as a noun has been mainstreamed. At least I don’t find it the least bit jarring, and I’m not in any industry where the word would be used a lot. It’s kind of like “cite” for me. I forget that “citation” is apparently the proper term.
Hence my joke in post #21.
I suppose another example would be “That’s a big ask”, where an older generation would have said “You’re asking a lot” or (sarcastically) “You don’t want much, do you?”. But there’s more than just clipping there, perhaps - something about trying to detach the asked-for task from interpersonal dynamics?
I recognized the joke, yes.
What about something like, “I agreed to 18 monthly installs for my car loan” instead of “installments?”
One generally says “payments” instead of either of those terms.
If enough people use it, sure. I just don’t hear that one around in that usage. I only really hear “install” for “installation,” and it doesn’t seem to be for all types of installations, just a subset of them. Like I wouldn’t say “a military install” for “a military installation.” So you can argue it’s an even more precise word than “installation.”
I’d like to clarify— of course I accept install as a noun, but for whatever reason it’s only that word being “clipped” that annoys me.