Re: scoring vs. killing

[Michael Shields <shields@msrl.com>]

In message <v965hxokri.fsf@marauder.physik.uni-ulm.de>,
Reiner Steib <4.uce.03.r.s@nurfuerspam.de> wrote:
> Maybe we could change "expunge" to "hide" (in No Gnus).  Or is there a
> better similar word?  Suggestions from native speakers?

"Hide" definitely sounds better to me.  I suppose we could keep stubs
of the old function names, so maybe it's not as hard to change as I
had been thinking.

The Oxford English Dictionary says:

    expunge, v. 1. trans. To strike out, blot out, erase, omit (a name
    or word from a list, a phrase or passage from a book or record).
    2. fig. To wipe out, efface, annihilate, annul, destroy, put an
    end to.

I'm a native speaker in the US, and my experience is that most use of
"expunge" implies that it is permanent and removes all traces.  That
accurately describes the IMAP EXPUNGE command.

Gnus already uses the word "hide" for temporarily concealing
uninteresting article parts, thread trees in the summary buffer, and
topics in the group buffer.
-- 
Shields.