Inquiry or Enquiry

[BrianTyler]

Is there a difference between these words, or are they 100% interchangeable?

A colleague suggested the Inquiry was only used when trying to find a fault or analyse an eror, and Enquiry is for more general queations.

Brian

 

[Grenage]

I was always under the impression one was just a variant of the other.


Carlsberg don't run I.T departments, but if they did they'd probably be more fun.

 

[SantaMufasa]

I also found that "Enquiries" was the sign over the booths in the UK where we would see "Information" signs in the US. As a result, it seems to me that "Enquiries" is chiefly British, while I see "Inquiries" as the chiefly American usage...but it could just be I (or my observational biases).

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I can provide you with low-cost, remote Database Administration services: see our website and contact me via www.dasages.com]

 

[CRilliterate]

I have issue with Entertainment or Intertainment and
Warranty vs Guarantee...

________________________________________
I am using Windows XP, Crystal Reports 9.0 with SQL Server

 

[Stella740pl]

Intertainment?
What's that?

 

[2ffat]

<off-topic>
Warranty vs Guarantee

In the US, these word are defined by the court system, not the dictionary. A guarentee is defined that the user/purchaser must be 100% satisfied. If for any reason the user/purchaser is not, then they have legal claims against the seller. (As in "if you're not 100% happy, return it for a full refund.")

In a warranty, the terms under which the user/purchaser can have legal claims is spelled out under some sort of agreement.

Sort of like Catsup and Ketchup being defined by the amount of water in the tomato paste by the FDA.



James P. Cottingham
-----------------------------------------
^{I'm number 1,229!
I'm number 1,229!}

 

[CRilliterate]

See, Stella you have issue with it too...lol

________________________________________
I am using Windows XP, Crystal Reports 9.0 with SQL Server

 

[Stella740pl]

Mm...Not really. I cannot have an issue with something I've never seen before. Well, maybe I have an issue with misspelling in general, but that's it.

It's not the same kind of issue as with inquiry/enquiry, warranty/guarantee/guaranty, ensure/insure where each of the words actually exists, just may have somewhat different meaning or usage.

 

[AnotherHiggins]

Here's what World Wide Words has to say about it.

Interesting topic, Brian.

And CR, what in the world are you talking about? I can only conceive of 'Intertainment' being used as part of a company name (playing on the 'i' spelling to remind folks of the internet).

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[TheRambler]

Yes, it was interesting to read what Michael Quinion had to say. He surprised me with "Language is as language does: if native speakers choose to change words or the way they use them, that’s something we just have to accept.", I am still thinking about it...

I've also looked up "Intertainment" and this is what I found:

The term was first used in 1993 with the formation of the company INTERTAINMENT Media Concepts & Licensing GmbH. "Creating Internet Entertainment" (Jeannie Novak & Pete Markiewicz, 1996) was first to define Intertainment as internet entertainment. In 1998, J.C. Diaz' MBA thesis described the first global Intertainment company, iNTERTAINMENT.NETWORK inc., as an internationally interactive entertainment network and broadcast communications gateway. In 2003, Whatis.com defined Intertainment as the e-business initiative that encouraged shopping malls and other public places to provide visitors with free high-speed Internet access. In 2004, Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang said interactive entertainment services or "intertainment" "is mainstream media for a lot of people," "for the next generation, this is their media."

Looks like it is a portmanteau word or blend.

 

[CRilliterate]

Thanks for the article, TheRambler - you saved me.

________________________________________
I am using Windows XP, Crystal Reports 9.0 with SQL Server

 

[TheRambler]

You are welcome CR, for a while I thought you wrote that Wikipedia entry because nobody else recognizes "intertainment" as a word. ;-)