VERDICT: "Save" Means Save a Web Page, Crowd Rules, as Image Downloads Settle for Second

The crowd has ruled. Asked what the word "save" most plausibly means in a typical user interface, backers on Morfi's opinion markets went with "Save a web page", which closes at 31% consensus. That's a mild upset for anyone who still pictures a floppy disk every time they press Ctrl+S.

Second place goes to "Save an image to device" at 28% consensus. Further back, the rest of the ballot: 3 other sides. So the old file-saving meaning, the budgeting one and the saved game all lost to the browser. A quick note on the numbers: these figures measure how strongly the crowd backs each answer. They are not a headcount of voters.

Why might the web page win? My guess, and it is only a guess: most of what people "save" now lives in a browser tab. Articles, recipes, listings, all stashed for a later that rarely arrives. Documents mostly save themselves these days. The word has drifted from "write this to disk" towards "keep this for later", and the market seems to agree.

Some caution is in order. Trading opened less than a day ago, with 29 unique traders putting $69,105 behind their opinions. That's a verdict, not a dictionary entry. Still, it fits a pattern from the Undo Snackbar's win in the app "Stop" button fight: crowds keep picking how buttons actually behave over how they were labelled in the nineties. Designers, take note. Your floppy icon is now older than many of the people clicking it.

Think the crowd got it wrong, and that "save" should mean your file, your money or your game? Join the market on Morfi and put your money behind your opinion. Just remember to save your argument first.