GalacticCactus Forum
Forums => English & Linguistics => Topic started by: Lady Montagu on January 05, 2009, 12:06:41 PM
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E-mail (email) is a word on the cusp. It almost, almost doesn't need a hyphen, and in many places, it doesn't have it.
The Library had a standard (e-mail), but this place doesn't, and I suspect I get to set it. I haven't decided yet. I suppose I could ask googlefight to settle it for me, but I thought I would poll y'all.
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I prefer e'mail.
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I am apparently your first vote. I voted e-mail.
(To me, it's kind of like a contraction, but with a hyphen. And I don't drop the apostrophe from contractions, so why the hyphen?)
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[size=8]g[/size]email.
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I'm on the cutting edge.
Email.
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What technically is the function of the hyphen in e-mail? It's a contracted, compound word, right?
That's why I said e'mail.
Wikipedia uses e-mail (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail). It's what I prefer to use as well, but I have no basis for that preference.
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Whoops. I voted my preference (email) rather than what would be best for a non-technical audience (e-mail). Sorry.
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I've never ever used a hyphen. I always write email as do most people in their corporate/education setting communications addressed to me.
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There seems to be no consensus. (http://www.thefictiondesk.com/spelling-email-vs-e-mail/)
*ponders*
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Just like my canceled/cancelled, traveled/travelled, labeled/labelled thing. That drives me crazy.
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As with everything else in life, I'd just do what JonBoy would do.
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As with everything else in life, I'd just do what JonBoy would do.
This is so patently false, it goes beyond the ridiculous. :P
I voted for "email" because that is definitely the trend I have been seeing, including in non-technical environments.
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I voted for "email" because that is definitely the trend I have been seeing, including in non-technical environments.
Me too.
And rivka, are you arguing that Jesse isn't the very model of modern Mormon gentleman?
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What alliteration. And nice Penzance reference. :D
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:) If I were having a slower day than I am I'd have done the whole song.
[Edit - and come up with something better than "gentleman" for that stand in for "general"]
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Definitely email.
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Thats not right.
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I use both, just to keep 'em guessing.
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I voted email.
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rivka, are you arguing that Jesse isn't the very model of modern Mormon gentleman?
Precisely.
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I use both, just to keep 'em guessing.
Troublemaker. :P
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I find myself using "EMail" (note capital "M") a lot, especially when I'm doing things like naming database fields and whatnot.
I've never hyphenated it.
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I prefer e-mail because it's AP style, and I have a thing about that.
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Chicago and the Miriam Webbstterr agree, Farmgirl.
I'm still pondering. I think I need to find out more about our audience.
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Why are you doubling up the "Webster" like that?
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As with everything else in life, I'd just do what JonBoy would do.
Jon Boy has never had a strong preference for either form, but he definitely puts a space between Jon and Boy.
I honestly don't think it's possible to say that one form or the other is objectively better for a non-technical (or any) audience.
Also, I'm going to be an anal-retentive mod and move this thread over to the other side.
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Also, I don't think a Googlefight will settle it, because it doesn't (really) distinguish between the hyphenated and unhyphenated forms. However, the Corpus of Contemporary American English (http://www.americancorpus.org/) gives 1673 hits for "email" and 18,456 for "e-mail".
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After I answered the poll, I read a NY Times article. They use e-mail.
(My poll response was email.)
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I honestly don't think it's possible to say that one form or the other is objectively better for a non-technical (or any) audience.
And here I was thinking you were a popular usage guy.
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Also, I'm going to be an anal-retentive mod and move this thread over to the other side.
And here I was thinking you were a popular usage guy.
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My beliefs are not nearly as simple as that.
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My email server (Verizon) calls it "Email" or "email", and they ought to know.
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After I answered the poll, I read a NY Times article. They use e-mail.
(My poll response was email.)
That's because most newspapers use AP style guidelines :)
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I prefer TS (Tante Shvester) style guidelines. The punctuation goes after the quotation marks. The object before the verb goes. And "by" can substitute for most prepositions.
For instance, "You are so beautiful to me" is rendered, "By me you are so beautiful".
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The New York Times has its own style guide, but it's quite old-fashioned and conservative. They still use periods in most initialisms, for instance, so it's not surprising they'd opt for the hyphen.
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After I answered the poll, I read a NY Times article. They use e-mail.
(My poll response was email.)
That's because most newspapers use AP style guidelines :)
What Jonathon said.
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I always wrote email until I was working for the lawyer who made me write e-mail, and I asked you all, and it must have been Farmgirl who assured me that e-mail was the AP standard. But deep down, I prefer email. Then again, deep down I prefer "judgement". Not all of my insticts should be trusted.
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I probably use email in chat and general informal writings to friends who don't care, just because I'm lazy. But for official type stuff for the company, writings on the company website or more formal correspondence, I use e-mail.
I don't think there is a universal standard of any kind.
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I don't think there is a universal standard of any kind.
There will be next week.