[Proposal] backwards → backward

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  • July 24, 2026 at 9:05 pm #1529
    zhonglish
    Keymaster

    This is a proposal to retire the word backwards in favor of backward.

    -wards suffix redundancy. \”Backwards compatible\” → \”backward compatible.\”

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    July 24, 2026 at 10:20 pm #1845
    sunrise
    Member

    Backward and backwards serve different grammatical functions in many dialects. ‘A backward step’ (adjective) vs ‘step backwards’ (adverb).

    They’re not redundant — they have different jobs.

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