Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2015 April 18

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April 18

Disallow?

Is the verb to disallow computer-speak or formal language? How does it differ from forbid or deny? In my dictionary it is "refusing to allow". Is it more like a technical restriction? Driving under influence may be forbidden by law but can be "disallowed" by hiding the car keys? Is that it? Please advise me about the correct use. --Pxos (talk) 07:28, 18 April 2015 (UTC)

It's formal enough, its use goes back centuries, such as in the King James Bible [1]. Its main use is in language referring to laws or rules - we say in football that a goal is 'disallowed' if an infringement of the rules occurred, such as offside or a foul. In computer-speak it's used as the opposite of 'allow'. Here are some examples of its recent usage from Google Books. Mikenorton (talk) 07:57, 18 April 2015 (UTC)

... and in your car keys example, "prevented" would be more appropriate in your sentence. "Disallow" goes back to Middle English in the fourteenth century, but in modern English it tends to be used more in the context of rules and regulations. Dbfirs 09:02, 18 April 2015 (UTC)

To me "disallowed" is the softest way of saying "forbidden", "refused", or "denied". For example, the IRS may say that a particular deduction is disallowed. That doesn't mean a prison sentence if you used it, just that you have to recalculate your taxes without that deduction. StuRat (talk) 16:55, 18 April 2015 (UTC)

To "disallow" is to do the opposite of allowing.[2] ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:54, 18 April 2015 (UTC)

To "dis aloud" means to insult audibly. μηδείς (talk) 17:59, 18 April 2015 (UTC)