0

My only email account has got unmanageably cluttered and it’s time for a change. Rather than go through the hassle of unsubscribing to hundreds of services I’ll just give a few friends a new address. I’ve therefore decided to fork my correspondence into two groups: work related and personal. I like the idea, but am not wild about the account name.

[email protected]

It sounds like I use it for personal ads and am keeping my main email separate from strangers I’m trying to hook up with.

I don’t know if that’s just my perception or not though.

Is this connotation actually implied? (Maybe this is opinion based, however it isn’t really my main question).

Is there a better word to suffix this account that indicates it isn’t for work?

*tagged as single-word-request as that is preferable, but not, I guess, absolutely critical if the candidate is otherwise perfect.

Improve this question
6
  • 1
    If you'd used 'personals' I could see your point. But personally (!) I don't see any problem with your choice here. I think it's just you (-:
    – Jim Mack
    Jul 26, 2018 at 14:48
  • “@gmail.com” suggests ‘not work’ all by itself. :P
    – Lawrence
    Jul 26, 2018 at 14:58
  • @JimMack heheh well thanks, that confidence is maybe all I need to pull the trigger on this address.
    – 1252748
    Jul 26, 2018 at 15:09
  • This Q borders on off-topic. i.e. "naming, especially computer stuff."
    – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
    Jul 26, 2018 at 21:14
  • @Cascabel I don't see what you've quoted in what you've linked.
    – 1252748
    Jul 26, 2018 at 21:43

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
2

Especially in the workplace, it's very common to hear of work-life balance (Forbes).

Therefore, I would suggest:

[email protected]

Alternatively, you can be at work or you can be at home (regardless of if you are in the same location).

So:

[email protected]

Improve this answer
0
2

Not an English based answer, but another way of addressing (see what I did there) the problem. A little known (?) feature of email addresses is that you can append "+string" to the addressee and it will still be delivered. So, for example, if you are [email protected] then you can send email to [email protected] and it will be delivered.

You can then set up a filter to automatically put these in a different folder (or label them, as gmail does it).

That will let you have an unlimited number of email addresses with the ability to automatically sort them.

Improve this answer
4
  • But take note it doesn't work on all websites. I tried this on Quora (or some other website, I forgot) and it recognized my email address. Just saying.
    – Bwrites
    Jul 26, 2018 at 14:51
  • If this relies on the sender appending the +*tag*, consistency will be problematic.
    – Lawrence
    Jul 26, 2018 at 15:01
  • Yeah the tip for the + + filter is not super useful, but I kinda like the suggestion of private. I'm not sure why; it's not like I publish my work-related mail, but for some reason I like this option.
    – 1252748
    Jul 26, 2018 at 15:08
  • The +filtername part of the question may or may not work for OP depending on the email account, and the website(s) they use it at, however I'm upvoting because private seems like a good fit for 'non-work-related', e.g. "I have my work life, and I have my private life."
    – 3D1T0R
    Jul 27, 2018 at 1:04
0

Do you think Social would fit?

[email protected]

Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    My concern would be that social might be too restrictive. There are other reasons of communication outside work that, anyway, would not be classified as social.
    – Christian Geiselmann
    Jul 26, 2018 at 16:04
  • Adding "social" to the end of your email address makes it seem like this is an email address that's separate from your work and/or private email address(es), which is specifically for use at social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, etc.
    – 3D1T0R
    Jul 27, 2018 at 1:06
0

I would find

[email protected]

a nice way to put it. But of course this is a bit long and may annoy people who have to type the address entirely (rather than relying on auto-complete). In this case,

[email protected]

may be acceptable. It also looks okay because the t functions as a visual divider between the two words.

Or, if you really want to use this only for your friends, why not

[email protected]

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.