Re: (Fwd) Re: RFC1983 (Was E-mail or e-mail)

[Katherine Graden <kgraden -at- MAIL -dot- DANCRIS -dot- COM>]

Wait a minute!  Who made up the rule that you can use a word construction
like e-mail only if the object being discussed is shaped like the preceding
letter (e)?  Bev says the only exception she knows of is X-ray.  How about
some others:  G-spot, C-note, G-man, A-list?  None of these items are
shaped like the preceding letter.

Kathy Graden
(kgraden -at- mail -dot- dancris -dot- com)


At 11:57 AM 4/30/97 -0700, Parks, Beverly wrote:
>>Katherine Graden[SMTP:kgraden -at- MAIL -dot- DANCRIS -dot- COM] wrote:
>>>> I prefer e-mail over email as an abbreviation for "electronic mail."
>>>>After
>all, do we say xray or x-ray?  Tshirt or t-shirt? <<
>
>T-shirt, U-joint, U-turn, A-frame, O-ring, E-mail, S-curve.  Can anybody
>tell me which of these words doesn't belong?  If you answered E-mail (or
>e-mail), you're right! Why? Because the thing being talked about (mail)
>isn't shaped like the preceding letter (E). X-ray, I admit, is an
>exception. Although most dictionaries allow the spelling without the
>>hyphen: x ray.
>>
>>>> The other thing I have against email is that "email" is the German word
>>>>for
>>"enamel."  Granted, using email when discussing electronic mail probably
>>wouldn't bother anyone who doesn't know German.  But it gets to me every
>time I see it in print. <<
>
>This "other language" arguement just doesn't cut it with me. Criminy,
>there are words in English alone that are spelled identically but have
>different meanings.
>
>If I said "Cut the deck", would we be playing cards or destroying my
>>porch? And who knows what else "deck" may mean in other languages!
>>
>The crusade continues.  ;-)
>
>>Bev Parks
>>parksb -at- emh1 -dot- hqisec -dot- army -dot- mil
>>
>
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