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I am wondering if there is a word that is a verb and describes an operation that is the opposite of ignoring, but not in the sense of appreciate. I want a short way to describe the operation that follows ignoring, i.e. un-ignoring. But "un-ignore" doesn't sound good.

Do you have any better alternatives?

Context:

The context is computer science. I have a set of automatically extracted semantic tags, which are used to characterize the contents of a text. A user might find some of them uninteresting, e.g. bare names of people like Paul. So there is an operation of ignoring such tags. Yet, in the future, some of them might be found interesting. So I need another operation allowing for un-ignoring such previously ignored tags.

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  • 7
    drop the double negative and use 'nore'
    – JMP
    Aug 1, 2016 at 13:01
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    There's a related question about unfavourite here. If you ask me, unignore is fine. I immediately intuited the correct meaning and context when I saw the title. A more verbose option like “Remove from ignored tags” might be less controversial, though.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Aug 1, 2016 at 13:19
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    @Marshal Jon Mark Perry That would be "gnore," since the etymology is from *gno- (cf. Greek gignomi). Anyway, "unignore" is common parlance in CS, even if it is somewhat infelicitous.
    – outis nihil
    Aug 1, 2016 at 15:00
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    Not strictly an answer to your question, but in the software/UX world, "un-ignore" is your best option. It's clear and concise: the user ignored something, and they are now undoing that operation. A different word might lead to greater confusion, especially since there's no straightforward, common antonym. "Stop ignoring" would be an option that's has more formal acceptance, but that really isn't much different.
    – jpmc26
    Aug 1, 2016 at 16:48
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    @MετάEd Since when are word requests off-topic for not being particularly interesting (entirely subjective—and I'd say this one is), unique (never been a requirement before), or thought-provoking (even more subjective)? I for one wouldn't call this question off-topic. The only point against it is lack of research, but some questions are hard to research in dictionaries, and the question does explain very well the context the word is to be used in and why (albeit completely subjectively) why unignore was not felt to be a good solution.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Aug 1, 2016 at 21:12

9 Answers 9

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Reconsider — M-W

verb To think carefully about (someone or something) again especially in order to change a choice or decision you have already made

"She refused to reconsider her decision not to loan us the money."
"Local opposition has forced the company to reconsider building a new warehouse here."

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    This sounds very good. Although I will stay with unignore since it best fits the context, reconsider is the most pleasant word opposing ignore.
    – Aleksander Pohl
    Aug 1, 2016 at 15:17
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    @AleksanderPohl perhaps at a later date you might, reconsider?
    – AncientSwordRage
    Aug 2, 2016 at 13:32
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    There is a certain difference between reconsidering and unignoring something. Consideration includes a deliberation which I believe is not implied when something is ignored. One could almost say that there is a clear absence of deliberation when something is ignored, otherwise it would have been excluded.
    – SBoss
    Aug 3, 2016 at 7:46
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In your context, while the person may be ignoring the content pointed to by the tags, "ignore" doesn't mean that when applied to the tags themselves. Instead it is a verb meaning that a state has been applied to those tags, the state of "ignored". So the most appropriate verb to refer to the reversal of that state change is "to unignore".

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    /unignore is the command to undo /ignore in every text UI i've seen. I'd add that Janus's OP comment's "remove from the list of ignored tags" would be an excellent tooltip or help-text lede for the command.
    – Weaver
    Aug 2, 2016 at 22:57
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If you are looking for a verb, I'd suggest to heed:

to pay attention to (advice, a warning, etc.)

Merriam-Webster

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Use the action verb that the is usually occurring between the user and the tags. For example: track, follow, or monitor. Using these words will help make it clear to the user what will happen when they take the action.

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    I think this is the only one that really works in the OP's context.
    – Casey
    Aug 2, 2016 at 22:35
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Reacknowledge Wiktionary

(transitive) To acknowledge again or anew

from acknowledge: dictionary.com

to admit to be real or true; recognize the existence, truth, or fact of

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How about

Attend to

  1. (when: intr, foll by to) to pay attention; listen

ref

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Consider reattend

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/reattend

1 [WITH OBJECT] To give renewed attention to (a person or thing).
2 [NO OBJECT] To attend to something again; to give renewed attention to something.
3 [WITH OBJECT] To attend (a meeting, appointment, place, etc.) on a subsequent occasion; to be present at again.

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I'll expand on Tucker's answer because in the context of a user interface, the pairing of "include" and "exclude" is very often used when the user wants to toggle whether to "ignore" something.

If "Ignore" alone is used, it is often on a toggle button so the "ignore" vs. "do not ignore" is implied by the state of the button.

In the case where you want two separate choices I would suggest you use what is already a common pairing of Include/Exclude.

As I software engineer myself, I can guarantee you, if you are selecting a these words for use by native English speakers, "reconsider" will sound strange. It implies the action of thinking about something, not actually making a choice. "Exclude" implies a very clear change of state.

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un-ignore = stop ignoring = watch

UPDATE:

so given your issue, i can "ignore" a tag: "Katy Perry". the tag now appears in a "terms to ignore" list. You'd use a "remove" option for the tag that removes it from the ignore list.

otherwise un-ignore is "stop ignoring" which is "pay attention to". a common computing term would be "watch".

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    Why is this word a good fit? You should explain what it means; a good way to do that is by quoting its definition from a dictionary.
    – herisson
    Aug 1, 2016 at 22:34

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