![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Whenever a paper form instructs me to "check" a certain box, in the past I have always felt that I had to put a *check mark* in the box (this symbol: ✓), even though I feel that an "X" symbol would be more clear and legible.
But that seems silly - an X should be just as good, right? So I looked up the definition of the word "check":
(definition #7) verb (used with object) - to mark (something) so as to indicate examination, correctness, preference, etc. (often followed by off)
Nowhere in that definition does it state that the mark has to be a check mark.
(definition #29) noun - Also called check mark. a mark, often indicated by (✓), as on a list, to indicate that something has been considered, acted upon, or approved.
This one says "often indicated by (✓)". Ergo, *not exclusively* indicated by that symbol. So an "X" could even be considered a check mark!
Phew. Now I can X in boxes without feeling guilty.
Come to think of it, part of why I dislike having to use actual checkmark symbols in boxes, is that I've been trained by the "fill in the circle" kind of forms that you aren't supposed to mark anywhere outside of the circle/box. In order to write a checkmark in a box without having the tail go outside the box, it either has to be a very small checkmark, or more of a V shape than a real checkmark, neither of which are aesthetically pleasing to me.
But that seems silly - an X should be just as good, right? So I looked up the definition of the word "check":
(definition #7) verb (used with object) - to mark (something) so as to indicate examination, correctness, preference, etc. (often followed by off)
Nowhere in that definition does it state that the mark has to be a check mark.
(definition #29) noun - Also called check mark. a mark, often indicated by (✓), as on a list, to indicate that something has been considered, acted upon, or approved.
This one says "often indicated by (✓)". Ergo, *not exclusively* indicated by that symbol. So an "X" could even be considered a check mark!
Phew. Now I can X in boxes without feeling guilty.
Come to think of it, part of why I dislike having to use actual checkmark symbols in boxes, is that I've been trained by the "fill in the circle" kind of forms that you aren't supposed to mark anywhere outside of the circle/box. In order to write a checkmark in a box without having the tail go outside the box, it either has to be a very small checkmark, or more of a V shape than a real checkmark, neither of which are aesthetically pleasing to me.