On Fri, Jan 14, 2022 at 11:05:14AM +0300, Jean Louis wrote: > The "Subject:" field is the most common and contains a short > string identifying the topic of the message. When used in a > reply, the field body MAY start with the string "Re: " (an > abbreviation of the Latin "in re", meaning "in the matter of") > followed by the contents of the "Subject:" field body of the > original message. If this is done, only one instance of the > literal string "Re: " ought to be used since use of other strings > or more than one instance can lead to undesirable consequences.
> It MAY, and it MAY NOT. There is no strict rule to it. Not so. As another poster attempted to point out, "MAY" (all caps) has a very specific meaning in RFCs. However even in standard English, the same meaning applies here. The RFC names exactly one thing that MAY be done, specifically in the context of subject lines in replies--only that one thing (starting the subect string with the expressly stated string "Re:") may be done... You can choose to NOT do that thing, but this does not give you permission to do any other random thing you like. Secondly even ignoring that, your interpretation makes zero sense in the context of what follows, where it discusses the handling of (quite specifically) the "Re:" strings from multiple replies... but not random other strings. > Thus RFC5322 does not contribute to overall understanding. It remains > as capricious decision by Latin language speaker who introduced it in > the document. It does not represent international consent. Again, no. Latin phrases and abbreviations are present in formal writing of most languages on Earth, and typically in formal writing and acadamia their usage is expected and even required, in some circumstances. Latin is typically (still) used in such contexts probably largely out of custom, but because it formerly was the ubiquitous common language of acadamia, and the many such abbreviations are short, precise, and generally commonly understood by educated people of all nations and languages. -- Derek D. Martin http://www.pizzashack.org/ GPG Key ID: 0xDFBEAD02 -=-=-=-=- This message is posted from an invalid address. Replying to it will result in undeliverable mail due to spam prevention. Sorry for the inconvenience.
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