E-mail, e-mail, Email or email?

[Dollie]

I'm so glad I found this group!

Looking for consistency in web and other possibly international communications, I'm trying to determine if one of the forms of "e-mail" in the subject line is correct. I know there's probably no consensus, but this has actually started several minor arguments within the office.

I found this info: It appears that "e-mail" is more correct but "email" is more used.

The word "emailed" means "embossed with a raised pattern arranged in a net or open work". The word is probably derived from French `e'maille'' (enameled) and related to Old French `emmailleu're' (network). In modern French, "email" is a hard enamel obtained by heating special paints in a furnace; an `emailleur' (no final e) is a craftsman who makes email (he generally paints some objects such as jewelry) and cooks them in a furnace).

I usually use "e-mail" because it is a short form of "electronic mail". If I were to use the standard process of shortening a word, technically it would be e'mail (as in don't, won't, can't, etc).

Any thoughts?

 

[tsdragon]

I believe your right in that "e-mail" is more correct, but "email" is more common. I suspect the unhyphenated version is more common simply because people are too lazy to type the extra character (like me).

Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[Grenage]

I know there's probably no consensus

The English language is pretty much a consensus, you only have to look at the more recent additions to the oxford dictionary!

I too believe e-mail to be correct although email is more common.


Carlsberg don't run I.T departments, but if they did they'd probably be more fun.

 

[CajunCenturion]

E-mail is an example of what's known as an "initial based term", and most purists and most style guides continue to use the basic rule that initial based terms include a hyphen, or a space, between the initial and the participle. So e-mail is correct, just as are the following initial based terms: I-beam, f-stop, A-bomb, T-shirt, and x-ray to name a few. Since capitalization will vary, either by the term itself, or by its usage, such as beginning a sentence, it's best to check a dictionary if you're not sure. In the case of e-mail, the lowercase 'e' has become fairly standard for any electronic, or e-, term.

That being said, English evolves based on its usage and as, or if, more and more people omit the hyphen, it may become standard.

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[LFI]

I am still perplexed that MS Outlook doesn't recognize "e-mail" as a word (spell-checker always flags the 'e').

I support e-mail, but with the trend I've noticed lately, I am guessing it won't be long before it turns into eMail.

--Dave


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O Time, Strength, Cash, and Patience!

 

[benlinkknilneb]

i dont no wether r not email shud b spld w/teh - or not bc i spend all my time n the chat roomz k cya l8r

Just kidding. Call it obsessive, but I punctuate, spell correctly, and capitalize almost all my writing, even instant messages. I usually use "email", because it's faster to type. I think that once you use one version enough, the others begin to look "wrong" somehow. In all reality, it probably matters about as much as whether Anna Kournikova can actually play tennis. :-D

Ben
The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't. - Douglas Adams

 

[grande]

I prefer email, but e-mail doesn't bother me. What DOES bother me, however is eMail. Don't ask me why, it just does. I understand where people get it from (eBay, etc) but I just don't like eMail.

-------------------------
Just call me Captain Awesome.

 

[Dollie]

Thanks for the input from everyone. It's nice to have the varying points of view.

In all reality, it probably matters about as much as whether Anna Kournikova can actually play tennis.

You're probably right about that! Thanks for the great comeback line for the next time this topic comes up!

 

[donbott]

I tried to institute a policy in my company that all e-mail must be hand delivered in person, but it never caught on.

Oh well.


DonBott

 

[2ffat]

Thread1256-1125164 gives a site that talks about this. (See

http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxhowdoy.html)

James P. Cottingham
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