[mew-int 00521] mew-pop message wording inquiry

[Tak Ota]

"5 messages have been received (17 messages are left)"

Since mew-2.1rc1, Mew shows something like this one in the minibuffer
at the end of `mew-summary-retrieve' command (`i') execution, if you
have set some integer value in `mew-pop-delete' or `pop-delete' of
`mew-config-alist'.  BTW, the meaning of integer value for
`mew-pop-delete' is not documented yet.  The `mew-pop-delete' document
only states non-nil value deletes POP messages after their retrieval.
Recent beta versions of Mew allow users to keep some old messages at
the POP server for specified number of days, and to delete expired
messages automatically.  The number of days in this case is specified
as an integer value for `mew-pop-delete'.

I understand that the meaning of "17 messages are left" is that 17 old
messages are still retained at the POP server.  However, the choice of
the word "left" bothers me since it has some nuance of omission.  I
wonder some novice may think that "I received 5 messages but 17 more
messages are still left out".

I hope this concern is only my paranoia but if the word "left" is
replaced with something like "preserved" or "retained" it may save
some unnecessary novice questions.  We shouldn't make the minibuffer
message too long to elaborate on the subject.  Therefore the choice of
word is important in order to express precise information in a single
short sentence, I think.

When I expressed this concern to Mr. Yamamoto, the author of Mew, he
was not so sure about this subtle English nuance and would like to
hear more comments from other English speakers on this mew-int mailing
list.  Any comments?

-Tak