Mastodawn

Hey @gproenca, thanks for the follow request! Unfortunately there's not enough vibe on your profile to check, so...

You must choose one highly-specific, and utterly trivial hill you're totally willing to die on. What is it?

(if you already have one, you may share it instead of choosing a new one)

For me, it's use of the term "guys" for groups that aren't all guys. I've found myself more and more annoyed the more I talk about it. Now, I'm like at the point that I'm railing against the default-masculinity of language to random strangers at the grocery store! Also, it's not trivial! Language is important—it shapes our perceptions! How many guys have you slept with, huh? Huh??

"Emails".

"Email" is a mass noun, like "air" and "snail mail". You don't say "the postman bought three mails" — you say "today's mail contains three letters" or "two letters and a parcel". Similarly, it's "two email messages" or, when the context is clear, just "two messages".

This is how the word was used in the early days of email.

I'm aware that this makes me sound positively palaeolithic. Please understand that that's because I am palaeolithic.

@gproenca

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Fennix Feb 24

@CppGuy @alice @gproenca

Counter-pedancy, it's E-Mail.

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C++ Wage Slave Feb 24

@fennix @alice

It certainly used to be, but I find that too clumsy and self-conscious. (We also used to have "e-diary" in the days when most people kept their diaries on paper.)

@gproenca