The Referrer Misspelling Etymology

Etymology The misspelling of referrer was introduced in the original proposal by computer scientist Phillip Hallam-Baker to incorporate the "Referer" header field into the HTTP specification. [7] The misspelling was set in stone by the time (May 1996) of its incorporation into the Request for Comments standards document RFC 1945[8] (which 'reflects common usage of the protocol referred to as "HTTP/1.0" at that time); document co-author Roy Fielding remarked in March 1995 that "neither one (referer or referrer) is understood by" the standard Unix spell checker of the period.[9] "Referer" has since become a widely used spelling in the industry when discussing HTTP referrers; usage of the misspelling is not universal, though, as the correct spelling "referrer" is used in some web specifications such as the Referrer-Policy HTTP header or the Document Object Model.[3]

A screenshot of an etymology article explaining why the HTTP header is spelled “Referer” instead of the correct “Referrer.” The joke is the absurd persistence of a technical misspelling: a typo made it into a standard and became industry-wide usage, making this useful as a reaction to frustrating legacy software conventions. EN: A screenshot of an etymology article explaining why the HTTP header is spelled “Referer” instead of the correct “Referrer.” The joke is the absurd persistence of a technical misspelling: a typo made it into a standard and became industry-wide usage, making this useful as a reaction to frustrating legacy software conventions.

• @rzeczyzabawne / 7855 2023-04-03