Date: Tue, 21 May 2002 14:56:05 +0200 From: Brad Knowles <brad.knowles@skynet.be> To: Jamie Bowden <ragnar@sysabend.org>, Rahul Siddharthan <rsidd@online.fr> Cc: Terry Lambert <tlambert2@mindspring.com>, Alexey Dokuchaev <danfe@regency.nsu.ru>, Brad Knowles <brad.knowles@skynet.be>, chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: cvs commit: src/sys/alpha/alpha clock.c Message-ID: <p05111708b90ff38b1dcb@[10.0.1.4]> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.10.10205210519130.80170-100000@moo.sysabend.org> References: <Pine.BSF.4.10.10205210519130.80170-100000@moo.sysabend.org>
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At 5:21 AM -0700 2002/05/21, Jamie Bowden wrote:
> How about we just nitpick your grammar instead? you wouldn't say "I'm
> sending you an mail," and it's just as inappropriate a usage with
> reference to electronic mail.
>
> Somewhere, hiding in this message, is a misspelling or grammatical error,
> as is customary.
Nah, here Rahul is actually correct. You use "an e-mail" or "an
email" either way, because of the a/an issue with the following word
beginning with a consonant vs. a vowel.
The real problem is when you are referring to something via an
acronym or initialism, and the acronym/initialism sounds like it
begins with a vowel, whereas the actual phrase spelled out begins
with a consonant. Take "WWW" for example -- is it "an WWW page" or
"a WWW page"? Clearly, if you were to spell it out, it would be "a
world-wide web page", but how do you deal with the initialism?
--
Brad Knowles, <brad.knowles@skynet.be>
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania.
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