Press or Push Button

[tkean1952]

I'm a native english speaker. Working with a german company, I am often asked for advice on english text.

This week the topic is: Do you PRESS or PUSH a button on a machine?

Any thoughts on this?

[MrPedantic]

Hello Tkean

The Sugababes seem to want us to "push the button". British phoneboxes, on the other hand, once required us to "press button A".

My own feeling is that "push the button" relates more to a button on a vertical surface, whereas "press the button" can relate to a button on any kind of surface.

But that may be merely personal idiosyncrasy!

MrP