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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 86
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 86 |
In a word, what's the point?If there is a point, "a word" hardly seems adequate, sjmaxq. 
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,230
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,230 |
In reply to:
Not to get into a discussion of taste and the individual, but I think it would be great fun to throw this discussion to my musical theatre kids and say, "For homework, take the word eply and work it in such a way that it will sound (to you, at least) like the most beautiful word you've ever heard. Create the monologue so that your audience will be won over. Then write a monologue to show the opposite effect: eply will sound hideous and ugly so that no one would want to use it.
"Not to get into a discussion of taste and the individual"? Sorry, WW, but that's the entire point of my objection. It is the only point of my objection. I don't like the word, for the same reason that I dislike "fsck" - it's harsh, ugly and unpleasant. That is a visceral, subjective reaction. While I might eventually be persuaded of the word's objective merits (at least in the case of eply), I would likely react adversely to any attempts to manipulate or alter my subjective reaction to it. Attempts to do so carry the message that the subject's opinion is wrong, and I'm not sure I can grasp how a subjective opinion can be in error.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
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attempts to manipulate or alter my subjective reaction to it.sounds like what teachers do all day long...
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 86
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 86 |
While I might eventually be persuaded of the word's objective merits (at least in the case of eply), I would likely react adversely to any attempts to manipulate or alter my subjective reaction to it.Stick to your guns, sjmaxq. The "objective merits" are dubious. The "e" prefix which became ubquitous during the dotcom boom was a true prefix as in "email" or "e-mail". There were exceptions such as "etail" [electronic retail] but these exceptions never took hold and the true "e" prefix itself collapsed with the dot com bust. At least "etail" had the advantage of being an obvious abbreviation of "electronic retail" whereas "eply" standing by itself is not obvious. Furthermore, the term "email" covers both originating email messages and email replies so there is no need for "eply". If you ask for a reply in an email, it is obvious you are expecting an email [reply] in return, not a letter. A reply is a reply whether it is a reply to an email or a reply to a letter. The mode of delivery of the originating communication determines the mode of delivery of the communication in reply. "Eply" adds nothing to this equation. In summary, "eply" is quaint precisely because there is no real convenience driving its use, and, furthermore, any theoretical convenience is more than offset by the absence of conspicuous clarity. We can agree on this much, sjmaxq. Your opinion is the only opinion which matters ... if you're right. And the mgmt says "You're right!"
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 133
member
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member
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 133 |
I might differ from your opinion of the "obvious" quality of the coinage etail---but, at this point in time,(another grating phrase when everyone seemed to forget the word NOW, eh, Wordwind?) I think I've said enought on this subject.
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Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 19
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 19 |
I thought you would find this amusing. Today i received an e-vite to a function. You guessed it, i had to confirm my attendance by eply
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
Hubby, a computer geek if there ever was one, also loathes eply. He says to ask the person if they'd use "eward" to mean forward and e-mail. I really dislike it. It's like an adult taking baby talk.
I like the sound of that sentence..."the absence of conspicuous clarity." It actually says it quite well.
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
In reply to:
Attempts to do so carry the message that the subject's opinion is wrong, and I'm not sure I can grasp how a subjective opinion can be in error.
Max, I understood your point immediately. And certainly didn't mean to disagree with your point. The only reason I wrote, "Not to get into a discussion of taste and the individual..." was to simply turn to a different avenue of thought and certainly not to dismiss your previous observations about the ugliness of eply. That flight of fancy about taking a word--and word not currently found in any dictionary, I suppose--and, realizing how people often dislike new words and others embrace them, it would be fun to create monologues in which the actor attempts to win over the audience--or dissuade the audience from liking the word.
I definitely honor and enjoy all you write. Your comment simply seemed interesting enough to wonder whether, in the hands of a good actor, we could be caused to be seduced, perhaps, into liking the unlikeable or to be persuaded to dislike something innocuous. I wasn't writing directly about you, Max, in any way, but about a theatre audience. I apologize for my lack of clarity here.
In no uncertain terms did I intend to be dismissive.
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,230
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2003
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NP, WW. For some reason, this conversation got the the phrase, "no, after you", running through my neuron.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
(From the London-based Plain English Campaign's weekly newsletter)
According to a survey, French office workers are most likely to be irritated by waffle in e-mails. The survey, which also covered staff in the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy, found that across all the countries it was senior staff who were more likely to take offence at waffle.
Spelling and grammar also cause problems, with 81% of people saying mistakes create negative feelings about the writer. Nearly half of senior managers said such mistakes were a sign of laziness or disrespect.
The telephone company palmOne, which commissioned the survey, followed up with a sensible list of guidelines for sending effective e-mails. But we weren't too impressed by their newly-coined phrase to describe this approach: "a smarter E-ttitude".
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