Quick question. How do I write out the key "Num Lock"? Based on a question I asked a few months ago about something similar, I'm going to assume you just use capitals: Num Lock. Or should I put it in quotation marks, capitalize only the first word, italicize, make it one word? The sentence is simple: "Hit the Num Lock button." Thanks, everyone!
I don't know what the right or wrong way of doing this is, but I would most definitely say, 'Hit the 'Num Lock' button.'
it's 'NumLk' [no 'o'/no space] on both my laptop and plug-in keyboards, so is it really 'Num Lok' with an 'o' and a space, on any others?... you should use the exact spelling that's actually on the majority of keyboards... and " " is the correct punctuation if it's used in narrative... singles [ ' ' ] can be used only for a quote within a quote/dialog, per US rules... and that's pretty much accepted use even in the UK these days...
I got "numlock" on my keyboard here. Don't know if that's the norm. Anyway. I'll check majority spelling. I did a Google, and it seems to register as "num lock" (I type a few variations and Google suggests "num lock.") So I'll go with "Hit the 'Num Lock' button." (It's inside dialog.) Thanks, all.
... It's "number lock". The name of the key is "number lock", and anyone talking about it should be saying "Hit number lock."
If it's dialogue, I would spell it out the way the character pronounces it (most likely "num lock"). In a technical manual or something like that, I would use "num lk," which is how it's written on my laptop.
Why would anyone say that? Number is two syllables, once you've said "num" you might as well continue the journey your tongue has started and end with "ber". It's not like the reader is going to thank you for putting fewer letters in so they don't have to read as much.
I say "num lock" all the time. So do many people I know. If that's the way the character says it, then that's the way it's written.
Are you one of those people that say "grats" instead of congratulations to? All that aside, if the character is saying "num lock" it shouldn't be capitalized.
Also I think the quotes are a really bad idea. The character is using the name of the key, there's no reason that should go in quotes. Don't you agree "Thirdwind"? (Also you're wrong, I say RAM)
Would you recommend quotes for the "space" key? Or the "mouse"? It's the name of an object and not a proper name either. Quotes are not necessary.
I would use quotes around "space" when saying something like, "Hit the 'space' key." There are no quotes for mouse.
