Poor Grammar in MS Office 2007 interface

C

chemartist95

The plural of mail is mail, not mailings.

Come on Mirosoft people!
--
chemartist95

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C

chemartist95

You are right : the phrase "Microsoft people" is not grammatically correct.

But I think you got my point. The word " Mail " should be used instead of "
Mailings".
 
B

Bob Buckland ?:-\)

Ummm, maybe :)

A 'Mailing' is an act and 'mailings' would be the plural.

'Mail' is usually 'a thing' but can also be an action

The tab is concerned more with the act/process than the item.

A couple of examples:

http://wordwebonline.com/en/MAILING

And of course the ever 'popular'
"You've got mail" <g>

=============
You are right : the phrase "Microsoft people" is not grammatically correct.

But I think you got my point. The word " Mail " should be used instead of "
Mailings".
--
chemartist95 >>
--

Bob Buckland ?:)
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*
 
C

chemartist95

I disagree; but then folks born in the USA are known for murdering the
English Language.

Although I am not an expert in English grammar, I think the term 'mail'
should be
used, rather than 'mailings'.
 
P

Patrick Schmid [MVP]

Merriam-Webster defines "mailing" as "the mail dispatched at one time by
a sender" and declares it to be a noun.

Oxford English Dictionary entry for "mailing", noun (one of three
entries for "mailing"):
a. The action of sending something by mail; posting.
b. A batch of mail or a number of items posted at one time, esp. as part
of a publicity campaign, survey, etc. Also: a letter, parcel, etc., sent
by post.

For b), here are the quotations OED showed me:
1928 Metered Postage Regulation (U.S. Senate Comm. Post-Offices & Post
Roads) 3 In the case of first-class matter..each mailing should consist
of not less than 100 pieces. a1961 Canada Year Bk. in Webster's
Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. s.v., Over a million domestic postcards,
circulars, parcels, and other mailings reached the Dead Letter Office.
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 7 Feb. 8/2 She sent the mailing off to
Roberta Wieloszynski and the Syracuse Consumer Affairs Unit. 1983 H. G.
LEWIS Mail Order Advertising viii. 187 The mailing may not make sense,
and the sequence in which ideas are presented can be out of phase. 1991
Precision Marketing 16 Sept. 5/3 The mailings consist of
50-100,000-strong roll-outs several times a year.

OED declares "mailing" to be originally U.S.. Note the 1961 entry from
Canada though that used "mailings".


Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
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J

James Silverton

Patrick wrote on Sat, 28 Apr 2007 12:57:16 +0000:

PSM> Oxford English Dictionary entry for "mailing", noun (one
PSM> of three entries for "mailing"):
PSM> a. The action of sending something by mail; posting.
PSM> b. A batch of mail or a number of items posted at one
PSM> time, esp. as part of a publicity campaign, survey, etc.
Also:
PSM> a letter, parcel, etc., sent by post.
PSM> OED declares "mailing" to be originally U.S.. Note the
PSM> 1961 entry from Canada though that used "mailings".

PSM> Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]

??>> I disagree; but then folks born in the USA are known for
??>> murdering the English Language.
??>>
??>> Although I am not an expert in English grammar, I think
??>> the term 'mail' should be used, rather than 'mailings'. --
??>> chemartist95
??>>
??>>> A 'Mailing' is an act and 'mailings' would be the
plural.
??>>>
??>>> 'Mail' is usually 'a thing' but can also be an action


I agree with Patrick and the OED. As far as I remember,
"mailing" as a name for a group of letters or notices mailed
together has been around as common usage for at least 20 years.
Despite conservatives, pedants and "grammarians", English is a
democratic language and usage eventually reigns!

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not
 
H

Herb Martin

chemartist95 said:
I disagree; but then folks born in the USA are known for murdering the
English Language.

Although I am not an expert in English grammar, I think the term 'mail'
should be used, rather than 'mailings'.
Click to expand...

They have different nuisances -- If someone were to say, "I am doing
the mail" it would (likely) mean something radically different than "I
am doing the mailing."

Mailings are (commonly) mass mail campaigns: mail merge runs and
the physical prep to send the mail generated, spam, etc.

Mail is usually the incoming mail when used like that, so that would
imply sorting and perhaps delivering the mail -- but even if it were
used for outgoing mail it would still imply taking care of the normal
mail, perhaps picking up, franking, and posting it.

It might even mean reading incoming mail (e.g., fan letters, complaint
letters) and responding to them appropriately.

Mailings and Mail don't have the same nuance.
 
C

chemartist95

You meant 'nuance'; not 'nuisances', I presume; why does the Office 2007
interface use the term 'mailing' ?

Microsoft used the term 'mail' in previous versions of Office.

I will not argue with the Oxford Dictionary; but the term 'mailing' seems
inappropriate in the context of the Office 2007 interface.
 
H

Herb Martin

chemartist95 said:
You meant 'nuance'; not 'nuisances', I presume; why does the Office 2007
interface use the term 'mailing' ?
Click to expand...

Of course, my typos are legendary. Thanks
Microsoft used the term 'mail' in previous versions of Office.

I will not argue with the Oxford Dictionary; but the term 'mailing' seems
inappropriate in the context of the Office 2007 interface.
Click to expand...

Probably is, unless it refers to a "mail merge".
 
P

Patrick Schmid [MVP]

Microsoft used the term 'mail' in previous versions of Office.
Word 2003: The Tools menu has a submenu titled "Letters and Mailings"
under which you can find Mail Merge, Show Mail Merge Toolbar, Envelopes
and Labels, Letter Wizard.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
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C

chemartist95

Ok, MS did use te term 'mailings' before. Somehow I do not feel comfortable
with its use. Chances are that I did not notice 'mailings' in Word 2003'
because I was misreading it as 'mail' - because I thought that the term
'mail' was 'right' or 'appropriate'.


--
chemartist95


Patrick Schmid said:
Microsoft used the term 'mail' in previous versions of Office.
Click to expand...
Word 2003: The Tools menu has a submenu titled "Letters and Mailings"
under which you can find Mail Merge, Show Mail Merge Toolbar, Envelopes
and Labels, Letter Wizard.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Outlook 2007 Performance Update: http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/04/13/105
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
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***
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Click to expand...
 
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