Re: I'm going to be picky

[Telsa Gwynne <hobbit aloss ukuu org uk>]

(Kevin, what's with your linewrap? Your email comes out all on one
line...)

> I was curious...is it Email or E-mail (regardless of case)? 
> Do we care about what it says in docs that much?
> Kevin

There is a rather ancient FAQ from the alt.usage.english newsgroup
which covers this. It's at 
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/alt-usage-english-faq/
and right down at the bottom end of the thing (warning, large file!)
is the question, "Email or e-mail?"

They found both. Different people counted occurrences and found
different answers: the general mass of posters used "email" and
people more concerned with words and language tended to favour
"e-mail". E-mail had the advantage of being a similar form to 
A-bomb, C-section, and G-string and popular with dictionaries;
e-mail was similar to other e- phrases current then; and email had
the advantages that it was spelt that way in the Jargon File and
that there is a trend away from hyphenation in English words
anyway, which "email" is following.

(I occasionally proof-read articles which have been translated
into English by their French or German authors, and the issue 
of hyphens is right up there with tenses. I thought I knew when
and where to use them, and every time I realise I really have no
clue.)

Apparently "email" is also the French for "enamel" :)

I have the sneaking suspicion that English usage folks would
plump firmly for "e-mail", but I tend to write "email" because
I am lazy. Also, too much time on the net has got me into the habit
of removing "-" and "'" from words when using search engines and
forms requiring input, because sometimes they break them!

Telsa