[Usage] click "on" the mouse vs click the button

[simile]

How do I know when the word "click" is an intransitive or transitive?
Do you always say "click on the mouse" or you also say "click the mouse"?
If "click the mouse" is wrong, why "click the button" is right?

Thanks for your reply.

[5jj]

I say 'click on the icon/word/image', not 'click on the mouse'.

[simile]

I say 'click on the icon/word/image', not 'click on the mouse'.

Oh, my God!!! The textbook we are using says "They can feed their pets simply by clicking on a computer mouse."

[5jj]

Oh, my God!!! The textbook we are using says "They can feed their pets simply by clicking on a computer mouse."

I didn't say that it was wrong. I don't say that, but it's quite possible others do. Wait for some more responses.

[BobK]

Oh, my God!!! The textbook we are using says "They can feed their pets simply by clicking on a computer mouse."

This sounds wrong to me, with a capital R! The image it conveys is of a pet, that happens to be a mus musculus. In some software program clicking on a pet 'feeds' it.

But the term 'computer mouse; shows that this is wrong. Impasse.

b

[simile]

This sounds wrong to me, with a capital R! The image it conveys is of a pet, that happens to be a mus musculus. In some software program clicking on a image of a pet 'feeds' it in some way.

But the term 'computer mouse; shows that this is wrong. Impasse.

b

The complete message is "This website provides virtual pets for Internet users. They can feed their pets simply by clicking on a computer mouse."

The mouse is not the pet. It's a computer peripheral.

[SoothingDave]

When you "click" a button on a computer screen, you are literally clicking a button on the computer mouse. In most cases, saying "click the OK button to continue" people will understand to move the mouse so that the mouse pointer is over the OK button and then click the button on the mouse.

[BobK]

...
The mouse is not the pet. It's a computer peripheral.

I know - that's the problem! 'Click on the X' really means 'Move the mouse so that the cursor points at the image of N and then click the mouse button'. Text that says 'Click on the mouse' forces the mind into an infinite spiralling regression, in which 'the mouse' keeps flipping between a peripheral and an image. If only Escher were alive!

b

[simile]

These are what I found in the dictionaries.

Longman Activator Thesaurus
click on /ˈklɪk ɒn/ [transitive phrasal verb]
to press a button on a mouse in order to choose something on the screen and make the computer perform a particular action:
Click on ‘next’ when you have finished filling out the form.


Longman Phrasal Verbs Dictionary
click on
click on sth
to make a computer perform an operation by pressing a button on the mouse in order to choose something on the screen. A mouse is a small object connected to a computer, which you move with your hand to give commands to the computer
Once you have entered your data, click on OK.
Click on the printer icon with the right mouse button.


Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
2 [intransitive and transitive] to press a button on a computer mouse to choose something from the screen that you want the computer to do, or to press a button on a remote control :
Choose the image you want by clicking twice.
click on
Children can click on a sentence to hear it read aloud.


Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
2 ~ (on sth) to choose a particular function or item on a computer screen, etc., by pressing one of the buttons on a mouse
Click the OK button to start.
[V]
I clicked on the link to the next page of the website.
To run a window, just double-click on the icon.


Oxford Dictionary of English 2nd Edition
■ Computing press one of the buttons on a mouse to select a function or item on the screen: [no obj.] you can click on an underlined word to jump to another section | [with obj.] click the left mouse button twice.

[simile]

One more from the Collins Cobuild English Dictionary
3. COMPUTING
If you click on an area of a computer screen, you point the cursor at that area and press one of the buttons on the mouse in order to make something happen.
[no passive]
I clicked on a link and recent reviews of the production came up.
Click the link and see what happens.

From those dictionaries, the usage seems to be unpredictable!
"click on a link" and "click the link" both exist in Collins Cobuild Dictionary.
"click on" is repeatedly introduced in Longman series.
"double-click on the icon" and "click the left mouse button" are found in Oxford system.
It seems like a writer's option?

This is what I found in the dictionary.

Longman Activator Thesaurus
click on /ˈklɪk ɒn/ [transitive phrasal verb]
to press a button on a mouse in order to choose something on the screen and make the computer perform a particular action:
Click on ‘next’ when you have finished filling out the form.


Longman Phrasal Verbs Dictionary
click on
click on sth
to make a computer perform an operation by pressing a button on the mouse in order to choose something on the screen. A mouse is a small object connected to a computer, which you move with your hand to give commands to the computer
Once you have entered your data, click on OK.
Click on the printer icon with the right mouse button.


Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
2 [intransitive and transitive] to press a button on a computer mouse to choose something from the screen that you want the computer to do, or to press a button on a remote control :
Choose the image you want by clicking twice.
click on
Children can click on a sentence to hear it read aloud.


Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
2 ~ (on sth) to choose a particular function or item on a computer screen, etc., by pressing one of the buttons on a mouse
Click the OK button to start.
[V]
I clicked on the link to the next page of the website.
To run a window, just double-click on the icon.


Oxford Dictionary of English 2nd Edition
■ Computing press one of the buttons on a mouse to select a function or item on the screen: [no obj.] you can click on an underlined word to jump to another section | [with obj.] click the left mouse button twice.