In some English language user interfaces, both virtual and physical, the words back and forward are used instead of backward and forward.
An easy example is the web browser, where the buttons to navigate the history of a tab are labelled back and forward. Why is it back and not backward?
In French, the words are "précédent" and "suivant", which means "previous" and "next" and are opposites contrary to back and forward.
I'll take a kick at this can, but it is pure speculation. Maybe someone can come up with a documented answer.
Firstly, we should understand that "back" and "backward" are both adverbs. Both have a meaning which is "away from the front; toward the back". In this definition, they are synonymous.
The implied verb in "back" and "forward" is go, as in "go back" or "go forward." The statement "go backward" is grammatically correct but idiomatically it's not how we would say it in English -- at least, the forms of English I'm familiar with. Native English speakers are more likely to say "go back." Look at this comparative chart of how often "go back" and "go backward" are used.
That being said, in English user interfaces we will also use "previous" and "next". This is used more for a sequence of pages, such as Google results pages.
As for French, "précédent" and "suivant" don't have a monopoly, either. I often see buttons like "< Retour" to mean "< Back". And in my Chrome interface right now, if I hover over the back and forward buttons, I get "Réculer d'une page" and "Avancer d'une page". Internet Explorer gives me a mix: "Retour" and "suivant".
At the end of the day, what matters from a UX perspective is:
Hope that helps! Bonne chance !
We don't say back and forward. We say back and forth. ;-)
Forward and backward are directions. Back, as in a back button, refers to going back to a previous state/position. Yes, that often involves also moving backward, i.e., traversing a sequence backward.
But when you say "Go back" you are emphasizing the destination, a previous state or position. The direction and how you might get there are not important (not emphasized).
If I ask whether you are going back to France, I'm not necessarily asking how you will get there. And I probably do not care whether you are retracing your steps backward, from how you got here from France. ;-)
Driving backward means driving in reverse gear. Driving back home means returning home, whatever the route taken.
The other answers thoroughly explained the English usage for "go back" and "back" and "backward".
Given the context of the question and the specific inquiry, "Why do we use..." it is most likely due to user interface design considerations. "Back" has fewer letters than "backward". Brevity is preferable.
Back is clear enough. Some browsers just reduce the space to what is needed for a left arrow (right arrow for forward). Abbreviations are common in UI, especially when clear enough.
Usually, when you go 'back' there is a destination in mind. As @Drew says - your precise route backwards is not usually the point. On the other hand, often, when you go ahead the destination is unclear and the route forwards is all you actually know. Strategists engage in forwards thinking without necessarily having a goal in mind. When you do know the position ahead that you are heading to, you go to the fore.
I propose it is analogous to pages in a book. Also, similar usage happens when playing a board game: roll the dice and move forward X spaces; draw a card and go back one space. Both are examples of a linear progression of positions.
I'll take a stab at this.
The reasoning behind the usage of "Back" and "Forward" is to elicit the simplest response that will let the end user know exactly what the function of the button they're pressing does.
The statement "Back" immediately upon hearing it brings to mind movement that one has already visited, and signifies a desire to "Return". (bonus points if you realize why the Enter key used to be referred to as the "Return" key.)
Similarly, "Forward" implies to the end user that you have already visited a location which you have a desire to return to.
There's little doubt that they were most likely chosen due to their monosyllabic conveyance. They are the words that are able to convey the largest amounts of meaning using the smallest amount of bits. In a time when internet browsers were new and hard drives were much, much smaller in size, "-wards" would have been considered an unnecessary allocation of bits, especially in a time when the commands for the equivalent "back" in MSDOS directory navigation was ".."
I'm late, but I strongly agree with the OP's comments under the answers, which themselves don't satisfy me.
My opinion: It should be either 'back and 'forth' or 'backward(s)' and 'forward(s)'. Mathematically, I prefer 'backward' and 'forward', since the heart of the matter is 'a tuple (of addresses) in which we can move stepwisely backward and forward by means of GUI buttons'.
My answer: I have a theory, though, why UA developers prefer the mix 'back' and 'forward': to maximize the difference between the labels of the buttons, in particular the difference with regard to spoken and written word. This difference is partly a perceptual difference.
Thus an alternative would be 'backward' and 'forth'. But 'forth' is comparatively rare in general. And 'backward' and 'forth' has length 8+5=13, whereas 'back' and 'forward' has 7+4=11.
