To "tag" Or To "mark up"

There was a lively discussion recently on the XML-Dev listserv regarding the use of the terms 'tag' and 'mark up'. A synopsis by one of the participants is available here.

I didn't want to address the verb vs. noun question that was the root of the discussion. I was more interested in the use of tag vs. markup (or more correctly, mark up).

The question, to me comes down to professional terminology. To be seen as 'XML-ish' it is probably best to use the term 'mark up', as in "I marked up the document". Since XML comes out of the publishing sector and the term 'mark up' has a long history in that realm the it carries over.

At the same time most non-XML professionals I've met use the sentence "I tagged the document" interchangeably with the previous one. Are they wrong? I don't think so but that comes down to my impression of how they think they are working with the document. For example:

What is this? <table>

What is this? <table>Ikea Round</table>

The first is a tag (a start tag) and the second is an element. So, if you have a document without any pointy-bracket tags in it and you start putting them around existing words, aren't you applying tags (to form elements)? Thus tagging the document?

In the end I have to agree with Debbie Lapeyre when she said:

"You may state which the pros find is best practice, but I think you should also admit there is a popular culture alternative. Those have a habit of taking over the language over the long term. (Contact IS a verb now, as well as a noun, for all that purists may howl.)"