What happened to the term "erase" it has been "delete" since late 90's

[Stroggman]

When I started using a PC back in '92 the documentation refered to it as "erase" and since the mid to late 90's it's been referred to it as "delete", so I wonder what was with this change in the documentation?

[riktoi]

Modern computers rarely "erase" data anymore (overwriting that data with gibberish, to allow it to be reused and impossible or very difficult to restore). Deleting is what is more common (simply removing a file from view; the data remains, but the system is free to reuse it for something else).

 

I am not technically inclined enough to really tell you why this is the case, I can only guess that it is to allow easier data recovery and to make it harder to truly erase files.

[Stroggman]

15 minutes ago, riktoi said:

Modern computers rarely "erase" data anymore (overwriting that data with gibberish, to allow it to be reused and impossible or very difficult to restore). Deleting is what is more common (simply removing a file from view; the data remains, but the system is free to reuse it for something else).

 

I am not technically inclined enough to really tell you why this is the case, I can only guess that it is to allow easier data recovery and to make it harder to truly erase files.

Hmm, quite interesting and you won't see "erase" in the context menu

[Individualised]

46 minutes ago, riktoi said:

Modern computers rarely "erase" data anymore (overwriting that data with gibberish, to allow it to be reused and impossible or very difficult to restore). Deleting is what is more common (simply removing a file from view; the data remains, but the system is free to reuse it for something else).

 

I am not technically inclined enough to really tell you why this is the case, I can only guess that it is to allow easier data recovery and to make it harder to truly erase files.

This isn't really accurate. And regardless I think OP is referring to the use of the term "erase" for what we would now call "delete". It comes down to the fact that a lot of these terms were still relatively new at that time and were subject to dialectal influence as well. I don't know where OP is from, but some early British home computers used the term "rub out" instead of "delete", for the key we would know now as backspace. Both "rub out" and "erase" are skeuomorphs(?) for deleting digital data, same with a lot of terms we still use such as files and folders.

Edited August 27, 2023 by Individualised

[RHhe82]

I distinctly remember from some version of MS-DOS I used in the very early 90s had the erase command -- I think. Or at least it appeared in some documentation, even though I only ever used del as in delete. Although I may now confuse MS-DOS with MSX-DOS, but there I didn't have a hard drive, so file system commands didn't have that much use. So can't be sure.

[Doomy__Doom]

25 minutes ago, RHhe82 said:

I distinctly remember from some version of MS-DOS I used in the very early 90s had the erase command -- I think. Or at least it appeared in some documentation, even though I only ever used del as in delete. Although I may now confuse MS-DOS with MSX-DOS, but there I didn't have a hard drive, so file system commands didn't have that much use. So can't be sure.

I happen to still have a printed MS-DOS manual from 1987 in good condition, so I checked - erase is a second name for del, and the manual pretty much exclusively uses the term "delete" throughout the page in descriptions.

[roadworx]

maybe the term erase was a regional thing? i work with an old computer fairly often and delete is a term commonly used in documentation and commands

[LadyMistDragon]

Ask that question and you'll be surprised what ends up erased :P)

[Plut]

Well on Linux it's "remove".

[maxmanium]

Looks like someone just watched this video for the first time:

 

 

[stphrz]

The term "erase" needed to be reserved for things like history, people and human memory.

[Major Arlene]

5 hours ago, stphrz said:

The term "erase" needed to be reserved for things like history, people and human memory.

false. it should be reserved to refer to an eraser and nothing else. /s

[Daytime Waitress]

I blame Matt Hardy.

[Stroggman]

22 hours ago, Doomy__Doom said:

I happen to still have a printed MS-DOS manual from 1987 in good condition, so I checked - erase is a second name for del, and the manual pretty much exclusively uses the term "delete" throughout the page in descriptions.

I like old computer documentation, quite interesting

[Stroggman]

12 hours ago, Major Arlene said:

false. it should be reserved to refer to an eraser and nothing else. /s

Agreed!

[aloysiusfreeman]

tbf, Apple refers to "Erase all contents and settings" in their products now. 

[Azuris]

Sometimes it just depends on the Company, i am especially often confused by Terms used on mobile devices, Stuff as "Delete all Tabs".

My UEFI says "Save and Set Back", so that i have to rethink every Time if it will reset the Options i've took :>

Restart, Reboot, Reset System, there would be many Synonyms that would make it clear.

 

[gibfrag]

It’s a shame. If it was the erase key, I could say “You have just been erased.” Every. Single. Time. 

[Tetzlaff]

What if that Schwarzenegger movie with the railguns would be called Deleter?

[Gez]

Don't forget the David Lynch classic, Deleterhead!

[Quasar]

"Erase" makes me think of ancient tape drives. Or not so ancient ones because some backup systems still use those.