Command verb

In user interface design, a command verb is a verb or verb phrase that actually triggers some software functionality, e.g. edit page, search, log in, help, talk, block IP address etc.

Sometimes such verbs are confused and may have subject-object problems. For instance, help usually means "help me the user", while talk usually means "talk to someone else". This can make them harder to learn, as the assumed object (usually assumed noun phrase or pronoun) of the command phrase must be simply guessed or known in advance.

Since the use of some verbs by some users actually categorizes people or their work, the worst of these confusions is that between trolls and the (many) IP blocks generated to slow them down: sometimes sysop power structure cannot actually tell the difference between the initial action ("to troll"), the opinion or process that leads to the sysop reaction, the output of that action, e.g. an IP range block, and the implication of what it means to edit from that IP ("to be trolled", etc.). These are all obviously quite different things, but it makes power grabs easier to deliberately confuse them. One could explain the confusion asa form of simple stupidity. However it could also be explained as a form of objectification or as a consequence of, say, Wikimedia corruption - these explanations would make sysops out to be more vile but less stupid.

More generalized verbs like ask, fix, revert, drive off and patroll are quite possible given a more complete understanding of the power structure. This would however be a social network design problem not a GUI one - it would involve much more understanding of some factionally defined terms and how factions decide to collaborate to accomplish any given objective.