World Wide Words FAQ

[Michael Quinion]

World Wide Words FAQ
--------------------

This document is sent every two months to subscribers to World
Wide Words. It contains useful information about the commands
available and addresses to write to. Please keep a copy for
reference.

It was last updated on 31 October 2000.


Contents
--------
1. About World Wide Words.
2. Contact addresses.
3. List commands.
4. Back issues of the newsletter.
5. Current subscribers.


1. ABOUT WORLD WIDE WORDS
-------------------------
This list distributes Michael Quinion's weekly newsletters.

Newsletters discuss the vagaries of the English language,
including word histories, new words, the background to words in
the news, and some of the problems of English usage. World Wide
Words also tries to answer your questions on English language
and usage.

The World Wide Words list is announce-only, that is, subscribers
cannot post messages directly to the list. However, Michael
Quinion is always more than pleased to receive feedback and
comments on what he writes and he frequently includes feedback
in newsletters.


2. CONTACT ADDRESSES
--------------------
* On general matters, feedback on newsletters, and queries
  arising from mailings, please e-mail Michael Quinion at the
  general address of editor at worldwidewords.org.

* If you are asking a question for inclusion in the Questions &
  Answers department, e-mail qa at worldwidewords.org. Please write
  to this address ONLY for this purpose.


3. LIST COMMANDS
----------------
* Commands must be sent to the LISTSERV administrative address

    listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org

* Do not send them to any of the World Wide Words addresses such
  as editor at worldwidewords.org or qa at worldwidewords.org, as they
  will be passed on to Michael Quinion, who will probably bounce
  them back to you with a copy of these instructions. Similarly,
  do not try to send commands by replying to newsletters, as the
  same thing will happen.

* To leave the list, e-mail listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org
  with the following text in the body of your message (the
  subject line of requests is ignored):

    SIGNOFF WORLDWIDEWORDS

* To join the list, e-mail listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org
  with the following text in the body of your message:

    SUBSCRIBE WORLDWIDEWORDS First_name Last_name

  replacing "First_name Last_name" with your own first and last
  names. The subject line of requests is ignored.

* To change the address to which newsletters are to be sent,
  send the following message from the address at which you are
  currently subscribed:

    CHANGE WORLDWIDEWORDS newaddr

  replacing newaddr with your new e-mail address. The LISTSERV
  will send a message to your new address, asking you to confirm
  the change. The change will be made when you reply to this
  message from your new address.

  If you no longer have the old account, you will not be able to
  use the CHANGE command. In that case, SUBSCRIBE from the new
  address as above. Then e-mail maillist at worldwidewords.org and
  ask to be taken off the old address (this will be done for you
  by the list owner).

* To suspend receipt of newsletters, e-mail the list server
  address at listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org with the
  following text:

    SET WORLDWIDEWORDS NOMAIL

* When you are ready to start receiving newsletters again, e-
  mail listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org with the text:

    SET WORLDWIDEWORDS MAIL

* To obtain the current version of this document at any time, e-
  mail listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org with the text:

    INFO WORLDWIDEWORDS


4. BACK ISSUES OF THE NEWSLETTER
--------------------------------
Back issues of the newsletter are available from 7 March 1997.
The newsletters are usually sent weekly, but there are some
holiday gaps. The best way of getting them is to visit

  <http://www.worldwidewords.org/backissues.htm>,

where they are archived in monthly sets.

Issues from the beginning of 1999 are also available in plain
text form from the list archive at

  <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/worldwidewords.html>

This archive is searchable.


5. CURRENT SUBSCRIBERS
----------------------
World Wide Words has 9,700+ subscribers in at least the following
99 countries:

  Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain,
  Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile,
  China, Christmas Island, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia,
  Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt,
  Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Gambia, Georgia,
  Germany, Greece, Guyana, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India,
  Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan,
  Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgzstan, Latvia,
  Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta,
  Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Mozambique, Nepal,
  Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Pakistan,
  Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Poland,
  Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia,
  Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Soviet Union
  (former), Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan,
  Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab
  Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, USA, Uzbekistan,
  Venezuela, Vietnam, Yugoslavia.

If you are based in a country not listed here, Michael Quinion
would like to hear from you at editor at worldwidewords.org.