Email list wisdom (fwd)

[Wilson Gray]

On Sep 16, 2004, at 5:45 PM, Dennis R. Preston wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at MSU.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Email list wisdom (fwd)
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> Proud to be one of the 7
>
> 7 to post that this group is not about light bulbs and to please take
> this
> discussion to a lightbulb forum
>
> dInIs

What about the people who tell posters to search the archives, where
lightbulbs/light bulbs have already been discussed at length and in
depth some five years ago?

-Wilson Gray

>
>> This may strike some as off-topic, but I'm offering it for anyone who
>> thinks we need to lighten up.
>>
>> Peter Mc.
>>
>> ---------- Forwarded Message ----------
>>
>> Please forgive the satire.  It is not mine, but I thought I'd share
>> it.
>>
>> How many list members does it takes to change a light bulb?
>>
>> 1 to change the light bulb and to post that the light bulb has been
>> changed
>>
>> 14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the
>> light
>> bulb could have been changed differently
>>
>> 7 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs
>>
>> 3 to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light
>> bulbs
>>
>> 1 to flame the spell checkers
>>
>> 3 to correct spelling/grammar flames
>>
>> 6 to argue over whether it's "lightbulb" or "light bulb" ... another
>> 6 to
>> condemn those 6 as stupid
>>
>> 1 industry professional to inform the group that the proper term is
>> "lamp"
>>
>> 3 know-it-alls who claim they were in the industry, and that "light
>> bulb"
>> is perfectly correct
>>
>> 7 to post that this group is not about light bulbs and to please take
>> this
>> discussion to a lightbulb forum
>>
>> 11 to defend the posting to the group saying that we all use light
>> bulbs
>> and therefore the posts are relevant to this group
>>
>> 36 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where
>> to buy
>> the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this
>> technique and what brands are faulty
>>
>> 5 to post URLs where one can see examples of different light bulbs
>>
>> 4 to post that the URLs were posted incorrectly and then post the
>> corrected
>> URL.
>>
>> 3 to post about links they found from the URLs that are relevant to
>> this
>> group which makes light bulbs relevant to this group
>>
>> 13 to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety including
>> all
>> headers and signatures, and add "Me too"
>>
>> 5 to post to the group that they will no longer post because they
>> cannot
>> handle the light bulb controversy
>>
>> 4 to say "didn't we go through this already a short time ago?"
>>
>> 3 to say "do a Google search on light bulbs before posting questions
>> about
>> light bulbs"
>>
>> 1 to tell a funny story about their beagle and a light bulb
>>
>> 1 group lurker to respond to the original post 6 months from now and
>> start
>> it all over again
>>
>>
>> Marianne Salcedo
>> Senior Consultant
>> Compendia Consulting, Inc.
>> 1547 West Turner Street
>> Allentown, PA 18102 USA
>> Tel & Fax 610-439-3718
>> Email m.salcedo at rcn.com
>>
>>
>> ---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
>>
>>
>>
>> *****************************************************************
>> Peter A. McGraw       Linfield College        McMinnville, Oregon
>> ******************* pmcgraw at linfield.edu ************************
>
>
> --
> Dennis R. Preston
> University Distinguished Professor of Linguistics
> Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African
> Languages
> A-740 Wells Hall
> Michigan State University
> East Lansing, MI 48824
> Phone: (517) 432-3099
> Fax: (517) 432-2736
> preston at msu.edu
>