[PLUG] top posting vs. bottom posting

[Jason Van Cleve]

Can I play too? . . .

Thus spoke Anderson, Robert H - MWT, on Mon, 3 Nov 2003 12:51:54 -0800:

> This was a really F@#$%ed up email to read, until I resized the window
> it was in. Then it was only difficult to get any meaning from.

It's considered bad form to end a sentence with a preposition, as in your last sentence there.  Is that worth complaining about every time I see it in this list?  Not really.

Top posting and bottom posting are matters of form and convention, but they are also about human language, not computer code.  Regarding the former, I admonish that we try to follow the rules but be very careful about making them.  This is distinct from computer languages, for which standards are essential whether good or bad.

There are some who feel justified in trying to mandate bottom posting, but historically, human language simply doesn't evolve by mandate.  (It is precisely for that reason that we aren't debating this in French.)

--Jason Van Cleve