Microsoft apparently doesn't want "log in" to be used, and favors "sign in" instead: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/style-guide/a-z-word-list-t...

I can get on board with 99% of that as being stuff a style guide can reasonably standardize for organizational voice, but the one thing that doesn't sit well with me is preferring "in to" over "into" in the second example at the end: "Learn how to sign in to Power BI" seems like it wants to use "into" for the same reason we would use that compound word any other time it should be used.

"sign in" is a verbal phrase. You can't merge "in" with "to" without losing its meaning.

Perhaps my grammer isn't as sharp as it should be, but I don't understand how "go in" would be any different. We say "please go in" and "please go into the room" without any issues, I think. What is fundamentally different between "sign in" and "go in" leading to this style guide not also discouraging "go into?"

I don't interpret a meaningful difference between "can not" and "cannot," nor between "any more" and "anymore;" thus, I don't find a meaningful difference between "in to" and "into."

If you're fond of this rule and want to remember to follow it, just consider how you would write the past tense of the verb.

Verb: LOG IN => - they LOGGED IN - the user LOGS IN - when LOGGING IN

Noun: LOGIN => - a LOGIN - some LOGINS

References: https://grammarist.com/spelling/log-in-login/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrasal_verb

Similar logic comes into play with mic (noun) and mike (verb). "They miked (or they're miking) the drums with several mics."

We avoid mic (verb) because the "k" works so much better than "c" when leading into various verb endings like -ed and -ing. It's the same reason we add "k" to the word traffic to form words like trafficking; we would interpret the "c" softly ("s" sound) if it was followed by a vowel. But in this case we replace it with "k" instead of adding "k" to maintain the long "i" which would shorten if followed by more than one consonant.

Mic (noun only) is great as a truncation of microphone, though.

Login, logan, logun? I kind of like the idea.

Nitpick: This works for "logged in", but not "set up".

“Set us up the bomb”

Is setting up?

They said "past tense" whereas "setting up" is the present participle tense.

Wow, thank you for clarifying this. I was actually wondering about this yesterday and just figured they could be used interchangeably but I also knew that in certain cases writing it a certain way just made more sense but I never knew the noun/verb rule behind it. I feel stupid now lol.

And here I thought I was the only one who still cared about this, given how often I see it the verb form written as a noun. The English language evolves, however, and I'm coming to accept that this one is well on its way to being considered correct usage, so I'm doing my best not to let it bother me.

Also backup vs. back up.

Does it really matter if everyone reading it understands it?

This is like saying that it's "start-up" and not "startup" 10 years ago.

No, it's like pointing out that you don't startup a startup, ten years ago nor now.

Both were always nouns though, right?