Loris Bennett (12023-11-03):
If I think of the main non-digital directory I have dealt with in my
life it was a telephone directory. That also did not contain further
directories within itself.
On the other hand, scholarly articles usually contain a bibliography
section, i.e. a directory of other scholarly articles, and these other
articles, being themselves scholarly articles, also contain a
bibliography.
Surely 'directory' is also just a more or
less apt metaphor
You missed the point: directory is not a metaphor at all, it is a
precise term for what is actually being talked about.
Regarding Tomas' assertion, I'm not sure I buy into the argument
regarding dumbing-down. I am presume it does go on, but I don't really
think that one is stepping on to Big Tech's slippery slope to stupidity
by calling a 'directory' a 'folder' any more one would be by calling a
pointing device a 'mouse' despite its rather limited resemblance to the
actual rodent.
We are not saying that using the word is by itself dumbing down. But the
fact is that the people who are dumbing down are the same as people who
are using the metaphoric word instead of the precise one.