ESL Podcast 532 - Using an Online Email Program

email program - a computer program that sends and receives email messages, giving people ways to organize and find messages

Which free email program would you recommend: Yahoo!, Hotmail, or Gmail?

interface - the way in which a person interacts with a computer program; the way in which information is displayed and people are asked to enter information

The database at work has a horrible interface, and our employees have to make at least 10 clicks to enter even the most basic information.

intuitive - easy to understand, even without an explanation

Quantum physics isn't intuitive. You'll have to study a lot if you want to do well in this course.

to sort - to put something in order so that it will be easier to find later, maybe alphabetically or by date

These receipts are sorted alphabetically by the customers' last name.

inbox - the folder in an email program where one can see all new messages, and where messages stay until they are moved to another folder or deleted

Mikhail went on a two-week vacation, and when he came back to the office there were more than 1,000 new email messages in his inbox!

to compose - to write something, especially a letter, essay, or email

Cory composed an email to ask Di out on a date, but he was too nervous to send it.

cc: - carbon copy; an abbreviation used to send a copy of a message to additional people who aren't the primary (most important) recipients

When you finish the report, please send it to me and cc the client.

bcc: - blind carbon copy; an abbreviation used to send a copy of a message to additional people who aren't the primary (most important) recipients, but in a way so that no one else can see who received it

Giorgio never responds to my emails on time, so to prove it to his boss, I decided to start bcc'ing her. That way she'll know when I send him messages, but he won't realize his boss knows it.

draft - something that has been written but still needs to be edited or finished and isn't ready to be shared with other people

If I have to send a lot of emails early in the morning, sometimes I write them the night before and save them as drafts. That way, I can send them as soon as I get to the office the next day.

to refresh - to make a computer program display the most recent, up-to-date information

This display refreshes every five minutes, but if you want to see new information more quickly, just push F9.

sent mail - the folder in an email program where there are copies of all the messages one has sent

Let me look in my sent mail to see which day I sent that note to you last week.

to archive - to move a message out of the inbox in an email program, but not delete it, so that one can find it later

Once I reply to an email message, I archive it. That way, the only new emails in my inbox are ones that I still need to respond to.

junk - garbage or spam; email messages (or mail) that one does not want to have and wishes one had not received

Why do I get so many junk email messages from online stores?

contact - a person with whom one communicates, keeping that person's name, email, phone number, and/or address in an address book

Abe has thousands of contacts, but most of them are people he has communicated with only once or twice.

to drag - to click on something in a computer program and continue holding down the button while moving one's mouse toward something else, "pulling" the object to a new position

In this computer game, you get points every time you drag gold coins into your character's bag.

spam filter - a computer program that recognizes junk or unwanted messages and moves them to the spam folder without letting them appear in the inbox, so the account owner never has to see them

I found some of Oliver's messages in my spam folder, so I guess my spam filter is too strong and I should change the settings.

to block - to not allow something to happen, especially to not allow an email message to come into one's inbox

How can I block all these email messages about store sales?

to forward - to send an email message that one has received to another person, usually without adding any additional information or even a note

Gebb likes to forward jokes via email, but I think reading them is a waste of time, so I just delete them.

to deprive - to not let someone have or do something that is nice, fun, pleasant or desirable

Our family didn't have very much money while we were growing up, so we were deprived of most of the toys that our friends had.