Author Topic: 'Posh' EMail Addresses (Read 14659 times)

Tom B · « **on:** 12 February, 2013, 05:45:10 pm »

Colleague has just been talking to a possible contractor. He came off the phone and said, "she's got an ultra-posh accent but her email is @tesco.net!"

Over the years I've somehow picked up that @hotmail sounds slightly less impressive than, e.g. @gmail or, @myownwebsite but am unsure of:
a) precise gradations of impressiveness
b) what kind of people would and would not care
Anyone care to venture more?

Ham · « **Reply #1 on:** 12 February, 2013, 05:51:25 pm »

If you have a specific provider eMail address, it shows first and foremost that you don't understand how these things work, and are doomed to stay with the ISP or change eMail addresses, with all that entails (including issues recovering passwords etc). You also tie your mast to the provider, and show yourself in their colours. Least posh.

If you use a global provider, nobody will fault you (@gmail) but equally it leaves you with one provider. Average posh, not really good enough for a business.

If you have your own domain, you can use global provider addresses too, and if that address gets overburdened by spam just drop it. Looks best, easy to work with global providers such as gmail. Poshest.

All of that only makes a difference to those who understand.

Manotea · « **Reply #2 on:** 12 February, 2013, 06:02:36 pm »

Sadly, domain "posh.com" is taken.

Asis, equally sadly, "Resistenceisfutile.com".

DAMHIKT!

Feanor · « **Reply #3 on:** 12 February, 2013, 06:07:14 pm »

Time for another oatmeal...

From http://theoatmeal.com/comics/email_address

Bledlow · « **Reply #4 on:** 12 February, 2013, 06:08:31 pm »

Quote from: Manotea on 12 February, 2013, 06:02:36 pm

Sadly, domain "posh.com" is taken.

Asis, equally sadly, "Resistenceisfultile.com".

DAMHIKT!

What about resistanceisfutile.com?

Ham · « **Reply #5 on:** 12 February, 2013, 06:15:51 pm »

sodthelotofyou.com and co.uk is available though

Pancho · « **Reply #6 on:** 12 February, 2013, 06:20:04 pm »

I think I have a posh email address; forename@surname.org. But the surname is more than just a surname, if you get my drift, so I was lucky to be an early adopter of this interwebs thing.

Mrs (actually, Dr) P tells me that students really need to ditch their use of email addresses they probably started using aged 14. Writing serious emails to lovekitty999@hotmail.com etc is a bit naff).

bobb · « **Reply #7 on:** 12 February, 2013, 06:31:24 pm »

It's all snobbery really, but ones that spring to mind:

Couples:

daveandjane@domain.com

Even worse if it's daveandjane@hotmail.com

Families:

People think they're being so clever with: dave@thesurnames.com

I have an irrational hatred of that one!

Jacomus · « **Reply #8 on:** 12 February, 2013, 06:32:25 pm »

+1 to what has been said up thread.

A non-company name email address raises a 'attention to detail' flag when occasionally dealing with someone like that. It is so very easy to have a @companyname.appropriate that it doesn't (not always fairly) inspire confidence.

Pancho · « **Reply #9 on:** 12 February, 2013, 06:33:06 pm »

Bobb, I also have myhousename.com registered as in pancho@panchotowers.com. But I don't use it as it would feel appallingly naff.

marcusjb · « **Reply #10 on:** 12 February, 2013, 06:44:51 pm »

My personal Email is firstname@surname.com

Back in the day when I sifted through CVs I was always amazed when people not only used a hotmail account, but it was something totally unprofessional like myballsareitchy@hotmail.com

They'd usually go in the bin.

Certainly contractors etc. that I might use, I would look with suspicion at anyone who hadn't got their own domain as it's so straight forwards these days.

It is snobbery - back in the day we had to out-do each other with business cards (American Psycho being the finest example of this one upmanship). These days, short easy domains are the 'Eggshell with Romalian type' of our world.

Biggsy · « **Reply #11 on:** 12 February, 2013, 06:51:15 pm »

What does having an eight-character* email address say about someone?

* Including the dot and the at.

Tail End Charlie · « **Reply #12 on:** 12 February, 2013, 06:54:29 pm »

As a numpty (with a virginmedia.com address), how do I get a "posh" one ? Genuine question.

rusky · « **Reply #13 on:** 12 February, 2013, 06:56:51 pm »

I really dispair of companies that have their own website on vehicles/business cards then have a generic @hotmail/gmail etc. email address. What makes it even worse is the companies that do their web design & don't bother setting up the email for their client.

Feanor · « **Reply #14 on:** 12 February, 2013, 06:56:56 pm »

The MD of our ISP used to use:

a <at> e.gg

Dunno if he still does.
Has caused problems registering with broken websites where it gets rejected as invalid.

rusky · « **Reply #15 on:** 12 February, 2013, 06:59:48 pm »

Quote from: Tail End Charlie on 12 February, 2013, 06:54:29 pm

As a numpty (with a virginmedia.com address), how do I get a "posh" one ? Genuine question.

Go to someone like 1and1 https://www.1and1.co.uk/ 7 check to see if the domain you want is available (e.g tailendcharlie.co.uk). Fill out your details & it's done.

With 1and1 you can set up mail forwarding so anything sent to your shiny new domain is sent to your virginmedia account.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #16 on:** 12 February, 2013, 07:04:03 pm »

We have numerous personalised email addresses. Dez maintains a firstname@thesurnames.org.uk which works really well for us. We also have the chesspod.com domain, which relates to our server which is for the business.

None of your common hotmails & tescos for me.

Charlotte · « **Reply #17 on:** 12 February, 2013, 07:05:12 pm »

Generally speaking, I think that email addresses should be as short, as simple and as memorable as possible. You should be able to tell someone your address over the phone and not need to spell it out letter by letter.

firstname@lastname.com is brilliant, but for those of us who have relatively common surnames, something like mail@firstlastname.com is also good.

Another option (and one I'm currently using) is using my first name, then a memorable, but random domain name. There are a few five and six letter .coms left if you want to claim them. Mine is www.lyope.com.

bobb · « **Reply #18 on:** 12 February, 2013, 07:07:13 pm »

Quote from: Pancho on 12 February, 2013, 06:33:06 pm

Bobb, I also have myhousename.com registered as in pancho@panchotowers.com. But I don't use it as it would feel appallingly naff.

Well, having a name rather than a number for your house gets extra pretentious points

BTW, I have no problem with:

dave@smith.com

It's just:

dave@thesmiths.com

CAMRAMan · « **Reply #19 on:** 12 February, 2013, 07:27:50 pm »

I have had firstname.surname@yahoo.com since 1996 and it's the only constant address of any kind I've had in all that time. I have a common first/surname combination, so it makes it especially good not to have any numbers in the address. I have my own domain, but not yet using it as the yahoo one is so easy to give out.

Kim · « **Reply #20 on:** 12 February, 2013, 07:29:21 pm »

Quote from: bobb on 12 February, 2013, 06:31:24 pm

Couples:

daveandjane@domain.com

This one irks me immensely. While it's generally unrealistic to expect that a couple's mail accounts will be entirely secure from each other, that doesn't mean that sharing one is a good idea!

It also seems to correlate highly with both luserdom and gender-role behaviour I find distasteful (ie. where the female partner is de facto responsible for all the communicating with friends and relatives).

Quote

People think they're being so clever with: dave@thesurnames.com

I have an irrational hatred of that one!

I dunno, at least they're using separate accounts and have a logical domain name, which is how things are supposed to work. Seems like a perfectly reasonable compromise for people sharing an ISP account.

Personally, I have a moderately cool, but long and easily-typoed domain name. If I'm giving my email address non-electronically to someone known to be spelling-impaired or a suspected luser, I'll give them my firtnamelastname@gmail address^[1] instead. It all goes to the same account.

As for my own snobbishness about people's email addresses, theoatmeal sums it up pretty well. Though I take it to the next level and have my mail client display the contents of the User-Agent header, along with the usual things like From and Date, so I can be snobby about what software they're using too. (It's actually kind of handy because you can generally infer when people are at work or on a mobile device.)

I'll also be snobby about people (usually Londoners) who can't format their phone number correctly.

_{[1] Bagging this in the early days of gmail was, it turns out, something of a tactical error. See rants passim about the various gmail users with the same name as me who insist on giving out the incorrect form of their email address. I've had all sorts of things over the years, including electricity account login details; photos of the grandchildren; invitations to nautically-themed parties; top secret union documents and a receipt for a shotgun.

Not that a firstnamelastname address always helps. While neither of my names are particularly tricky to spell, people will go to surprising lengths to get them wrong.}

rusky · « **Reply #21 on:** 12 February, 2013, 07:34:15 pm »

I remember when someone gave the wrong email address when registering on a jewellery website & placing an order. I requested a password reminder email, logged in, checked his personal details & phoned him to let him know what he had done

hellymedic · « **Reply #22 on:** 12 February, 2013, 07:41:30 pm »

My brother obtained the vecht.com domain for all family members who wanted it. At least I can remember my parents' email addresses!

ian · « **Reply #23 on:** 12 February, 2013, 08:13:01 pm »

Quote from: bobb on 12 February, 2013, 06:31:24 pm

It's all snobbery really, but ones that spring to mind:

Couples:

daveandjane@domain.com

Even worse if it's daveandjane@hotmail.com

Families:

People think they're being so clever with: dave@thesurnames.com

I have an irrational hatred of that one!

But snobbery is such good fun.

I like daveandjnae@hotmail.com.

You're not sure if

(a) they made a typo and don't know how to correct it
(b) they made a typo and just can't be bothered to correct it
(b) they found daveandjane was already taken so they cleverly tweaked themselves an alternative
(c) Jane's parents were really awful at spelling and we should be happy they didn't try for a Gaelic name
(d) the registrar was on her second bottle of Smirnoff by the time she came to enter Jnae's name
(e) Daveandjnae is in fact the second most common female name in Kyrgyzstan

Personally, if I have receive emails of the @gmail, @yahoo, @hotmail, or @lavalovelube.com variety, I bin them and have the originators hunted down by robots.

I've cleverly picked a domain name that is mildly difficult to spell. This is a primary defence against idiots. It does mean I have to india-romeo-india-delta-echo-sierra-charlie-echo-november-charlie-echo every time I'm asked for it. Which earns me a second 'huh' and I have to go "I for igloo, R for..." Usually, I give up and have them killed by robots too.

I have a second main domain which works on the 'yes, cow and all one word' principle.

barakta · « **Reply #24 on:** 12 February, 2013, 08:24:00 pm »

Quote from: Feanor on 12 February, 2013, 06:56:56 pm

The MD of our ISP used to use:

a <at> e.gg

Dunno if he still does.
Has caused problems registering with broken websites where it gets rejected as invalid.

He still does! You think he's going to stop trolling people who can't use the standards properly/