Strange dialect point?

[tahnan]

Do things appear on the syllabus for a class? Or do they appear in the syllabus for a class? (I've always said one; Google seems to favor the other, which I didn't even know was an option.)

Comments

[jangler-npl.livejournal.com]

I've always heard "on the syllabus."

[siderea]

Likewise I've always heard and used "on the syllabus" (parallel to "on the agenda").

Until this semester. My Human Development prof put together her meta-material into a book and had it bound. It says "Syllabus" on the cover, so everyone now refers to looking things up "in the syllabus". Or maybe it's "in The Syllabus." Hard to tell in speech.

[siderea]

Oh, also:

"That topic is on the syllabus."

But "Where in the syllabus is it?"

[cnoocy]

on.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

At first, I was going to say "on," but I've heard "in" as well, and I can't say which I've heard with greater frequency.

[touchstone.livejournal.com]

I've more often heard 'on'.

On reflection...perhaps that's because most profs hand out their syllabus at the beginning of the course as a printed document, and because it's usually SHORT? Things appear ON a list (or an agenda, as siderea pointed out), or ON a piece of paper. Things are IN a document, or a book, or a plan.

Of course that last may be a counterexample. Details are IN a diagram or plan, even if it happens to appear on one page. On the other other hand, details are ON a blueprint.

Huh. Though come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I've heard 'on the blueprint' and 'in the blueprints'. Maybe the plural conjures an image of a sheaf or roll of plans, and makes in sound more appropriate than on?

[jadelennox]

"on"

[qaqaq.livejournal.com]

Another vote for "on".

[kirbyk.livejournal.com]

I've heard both and have no strong preference. They both sound equally correct.

Of course, I being out of academia, I haven't really used the world syllabus in a decade.

Now that I think, though, the rules for 'on' vs. 'in' are terribly odd. Something is 'in a plan', but 'on an agenda', 'in a book', 'on a broadcast', 'in print', 'on the record'... I don't see any pattern. (The only thing that has any logic about it is 'in a book' vs. 'on a book', since things get placed physically on top of books with some frequency.)

If pressed, I'd probably choose 'in a syllabus', which seems to be the countermeme.

[spooky-thing.livejournal.com]

I tried them in my "mental ear", and they both sounded familiar.

[cazique.livejournal.com]

that's the most hilarious and scary userpic I've ever seen.

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we call him "Spooky" for a reason. You should see him in a store window at Halloween, doing it for real.

[luckylefty.livejournal.com]

Both sound OK to me, but "on" sounds slightly better.

[rubrick.livejournal.com]

"On" is correct, by analogy with "get on the bus". Words that end with the "bus" sound take "on". By contrast, "oove" requires "in", as in "get in the groove" or "the Mona Lisa is in the Louvre".