What do you call it

IndyDDR's online socialization center: general topics not related to specific coverage areas

Moderator: Moderators

Post Reply

What goes in the blank?

Chain
1
10%
Thread
9
90%
String
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 10

User avatar
Fluffyumpkins
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 6592
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 1:53 pm

What do you call it

Post by Fluffyumpkins » Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:40 am

I send an email to Merk and Riot to tell them I'm Lady Banned. Merk thinks it is funny and replies to all saying, "ololol good one" and adds Ho. Ho replies to all saying we're dumb. I forward this to my lady friend and tell her, "Check out the email ____. We sure are wacky."

What goes in the blank? I hear all sorts of words thrown around, but these are the top 3.

User avatar
Merk
Lady Banned Son of Switzerland
Lady Banned Son of Switzerland
Posts: 8274
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:33 am
Location: Bloomington / Ft. Wayne
Contact:

Re: What do you call it

Post by Merk » Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:46 am

It's thread, but chain could work as well. I've never heard of an "E-Mail string" before and whoever said that doesn't know internet lexicon.
Image

User avatar
Potter
Heavy
Heavy
Posts: 4856
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 6:57 pm
Location: above the abyss
Contact:

Re: What do you call it

Post by Potter » Tue Oct 11, 2011 2:54 pm

dat thread
Riot wrote:My hair alone is like 5mb.
Merk wrote:Badyyyyy.. wanna go fiiiish? wanna go.... fiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIsh?? Wanna go fishin'?!?!?! Him's a Badyyyy

User avatar
Riot
Heavy
Heavy
Posts: 5373
Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2005 7:58 pm

Re: What do you call it

Post by Riot » Tue Oct 11, 2011 3:34 pm

I vote for "where is my e-mail I don't have any e-mail did you send me an e-mail I want my e-mail"
Image

User avatar
Pokebis
Standard
Standard
Posts: 495
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2009 7:03 pm
Location: Redmond Washington
Contact:

Re: What do you call it

Post by Pokebis » Tue Oct 11, 2011 5:22 pm

No, it's called a chain, you're all dumb.
This is a thread, it's an organized discussion, an email just has some stuff that says it's a reply to something else.

User avatar
LikeableRodent
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 720
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 11:13 am
Location: Seattle

Re: What do you call it

Post by LikeableRodent » Tue Oct 11, 2011 5:32 pm

I'd personally call it an "email conversation" or "メールやり取り".

"Chain" in tech terms has too much key-chain/authentication baggage associated with it, so it sounds weird to me.

I voted for "thread", though I somewhat agree with the whiny guy above me in that it's more reserved for forum usage.

User avatar
Riot
Heavy
Heavy
Posts: 5373
Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2005 7:58 pm

Re: What do you call it

Post by Riot » Tue Oct 11, 2011 5:57 pm

Yeah I wouldn't call it any of your choices. It's not really a thread, although presently the way gmail has subsequent responses is kind of forum-like. It's not really a chain... That implies that you're passing it forward. I'd simply call them email conversations, even if it ain't hip.
Image

User avatar
MonMotha
Site Code Monkey
Site Code Monkey
Posts: 2505
Joined: Sun Jan 23, 2005 9:18 pm

Re: What do you call it

Post by MonMotha » Tue Oct 11, 2011 6:01 pm

The term "thread" has historically been applied to much more than just web forums. It has also been fairly universally applied to topics of conversation in newsgroups (i.e. on USENET) as well as mailing lists. Given the propensity of people to send email to several people and everybody using the "Reply All" button these days, I'd say it could be very easily applied to such conversations.

Now, as to whether it applies to a few emails back and forth between two people, I guess it depends on what definition of "thread" you wish to apply. The above usage, and the way it's generally presented in user agents, is usually that of a tree or directed graph. A tree need not have any branches for it to still be a tree. In fact, it need not have more than a single node (technically, it need not have any, but that's not a particularly interesting configuration for this discussion). I'd say that you could call a typical back-and-forth email conversation a "thread" if you want. I often do, but I generally reserve the word "threaded" to refer to conversations with more than one branch or mailing lists, forums, etc.

I've never heard the word "string" used for this, but I guess it fits by analogy to "thread". "Chain" seems to imply chain letters.
A normality test:
+++ATH
If you are no longer connected to the internet, you need to apply more wax to your modem: it'll make it go faster.
If you find this funny, you're a nerd.
If neither of the above apply, you are normal. Congratulations.

Post Reply