Conlang-L FAQ

Subject Topic Tags

In the subject line of a post, you can mark the post with one of the following tags. Tags are only recognised if a colon follows and not other decoration (e.g. brackets) are used. Any 'Re:' etc. is irrelevant -- the software skips it.

Good tag syntax:

 CHAT: Is the world really round?

Bad tag syntax:

 [CHAT]: Is the world really round?

These are the official tags the listserv software can be instructed to filter automatically. There are currently exactly three:

• CHAT: off-topic stuff of the conversational sort
• USAGE: natural language usage (all of the YAEPT and similar should use this)
• THEORY: linguistic theory discussions

Only the above three tags are official and configured for filtering.

There are a few others that are worth mentioning:

• OT: should not be used, use CHAT instead as some software had problems with 'OT'
• OFFLIST: not actually seen on-list, this tag is added to make explicitly clear that you are taking a subject offlist (i.e. you're emailing someone directly about it)

The following are explicitly not included in the list of filterable tags:

• META: threads about CONLANG-L itself
• TECH: technical issues (e.g. email programs, list-related technical problems, etc)

Acronyms

List of acronyms specific to the Conlang Mailing List:

• ANADEW - "A natlang's already dunnit, except worse"
• ANADEWISM - Something you thought was unique, but is really an ANADEW
• YAEPT (the original acronym) - Yet Another English Pronounciation Thrread
• YADPT
• YAGPT
• YAEGT - Yet Another English Grammar Thread
• general pattern: YA(Language)(Topic)T
• LCC - the Language Creation Conference
• NLF2DWS or NLWS - Non-linear [fully 2-dimensional] writing system
• CONLANG - Not actually an acronym, CONLANG in all caps refers to the conlang mailing list hosted by Brown University. AKA conlang-l, Conlang-L, CONLANG-L, or just CONLANG