Log in or log on?

[Guest]

Hello. Is there a difference between log in and log on? Also, the word log seems to have so many different meanings. How can word that consists of only 3 letters be used in so many situations? English is a strange language! :)

[Katarzyna]

[Mister Micawber]

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No difference indeed. I imagine that the two forms arose independently during the inception of the W W W. Some people subconsciously envisioned the W W W and websites as flat pages, scrolling endlessly, so that they felt they were joining their name and internet activities onto the site on the screen-- logging on. Others visualized it as entering into the computer world, and therefore tended to use log in. I myself use both, interchangeably.

Interestingly, long before we had computers and the internet, ship's officers were logging information in the Ship's Log (a record book):

(Naut.), To enter in a ship's log book; as, to log the miles run. J. F. Cooper.
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Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's