There are many phrases I hear on the news and in commercials that I find annoying, painful, and simply illogical. This is one of the worst offenders.I was watching a commercial today for a bank and the woman in the commercial said that the bank was "the number one online banking web site." Which got me wondering: what's the number one banking web site that's not online?
I've heard this kind of phrase used in other commercials, on many news broadcasts, and even on dramas and sitcoms. I don't know why this continues to be done. This is 2009, it's not 1996 anymore, with most of the population not even online and not sure of the terminology. Trust me, if someone is interested in doing their banking online, they already know it's a web site. (Another phrase I've heard is "internet web site," which irritates me too.)
I mean, if we're going to keep saying "online web sites," that means we have to also say "fictional novels," "male men," and "senior old people."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-27-2009 @ 8:58PM
Elizabeth said...
It's actually an online-banking website, ie, a website for online banking (this is why proper hyphenization is so important). They're emphasizing that the banking is online, not the website. Many banks have websites but don't offer online banking, or have crappy websites where the online banking is difficult to navigate.
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8-27-2009 @ 10:50PM
bc said...
Punctuation and spelling are not required skill sets for bloggers, thus Bob's confusion is understandable.
8-27-2009 @ 9:55PM
bill said...
^^^ what she said
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8-27-2009 @ 11:07PM
Bob Sassone said...
Elizabeth: no hyphen is needed. Commercials and news shows always use the words "online" and "web site" in the same sentence as I explained above, regardless of what the business is. They should have just said it was "number one for online banking" or "you can do your banking on our site" or something similar. No need for both phrases.
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8-28-2009 @ 12:27AM
Ben said...
Bob,
This is a silly thing to argue about, I must admit, but perhaps working for a bank gives me a different perspective. To us, the phrase "online banking" is the name of the product whether it is hyphenated or not (although more often, it is capitalized, as in "Online Banking"). So, if we see it as a product, then I think the analogy would be more along the lines of "the Honda Accord is the bestselling car." Do we really need to say it's a car when it's clear to everyone that it's a car? Well, yes, because "Honda Accord" is the name of the product, and car is the name of the thing the product represents. Same goes for Online Banking, the product, and web site, the thing that it is.
Ok, enough silliness.
8-28-2009 @ 8:05AM
JPN said...
I get your point, but they're advertising "online banking" services. Where else are you going to do them? Offline banking services would include going into a branch or using an ATM :) It's like Ball State University...it doesn't refer to 'Ball State' 'University', it's 'Ball' 'State University'.
You just got confused but at least admit it :)
8-30-2009 @ 9:13AM
jim said...
Wow... just admit when you make a mistake. This just makes you sound more desperate.
8-28-2009 @ 2:37AM
naila said...
If someone is interested in doing their banking online, they already know it's a web site,but many sites just boring and waste of time.
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8-28-2009 @ 2:41AM
naila said...
Many banking sites just show advertisement, and their services.
naila
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8-28-2009 @ 9:36AM
Jason said...
Like Ben, I also work for a financial institution, in the IT department, and I concur. The online banking product, referred to us geeks as OB, is a product in the family of services such as MB or mobile banking, ATM, etc. However, Online Banking can have a Mobile Banking component, and in that case you would refer to the Mobile Banking website, or Mobile Banking Application, depending upon the technology you employ. Since the product is branded, it has to be sold as such "Online-Banking Website", with an Online-Banking URL, etc.
Now for other institutions using redundancy is a commercial selling point. The more you repeat something, the more it sticks in the potential customer's mind. That's why saying "online website", although redundant, is important to include in commercials advertising a web-based product. It may sound silly to us experienced computer users, but to the average, everyday user it should be a passive, effective way of capturing their attention and focusing it on a product that is now suddenly available on the Internet. By everyday user, I am basing this on the 92% of people represented by my company who call me up every day to ask me why the Internet is down, or try to turn their computers off by hitting the monitor switch, or think that restarting a computer means to log out and back in. See where I'm going with this?
In other words, you'll have to get used to it.
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8-28-2009 @ 11:15AM
Bobbaft said...
That's why I don't use the internets. I just get my money from ATM Machines.
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8-31-2009 @ 2:54PM
C.A. said...
Fakebanksavingsandloan.org, best offline banking website ever!
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