Email Glossary

Browse 15 email terms defined in plain English, from the cultural dictionary of computing.

15 Email Terms

Drip Campaign
An automated sequence of timed messages, usually emails, sent to prospects or users based on rules, behavior, or lifecycle stage. Drip campaigns are often used...
Email Culture
The norms a team or organization has around how email is used, how fast replies are expected, and what belongs in inboxes versus other channels. Email culture...
Hard Bounce
A permanent email delivery failure, usually because the address does not exist or the destination rejects mail categorically. It differs from a soft bounce,...
IMAP
Internet Message Access Protocol — a protocol for retrieving and managing email on a remote server. Unlike POP3, IMAP keeps messages on the server and supports...
Inbox Zero
A productivity approach aimed at regularly processing email until the inbox is empty or near-empty, typically by replying, delegating, archiving, or scheduling...
Open Rate
The percentage of delivered emails that are opened by recipients, used as a rough engagement metric in email marketing. Open-rate interpretation has become...
Phishing
Phishing is a social engineering attack where an attacker impersonates a trusted entity through email, text messages, phone calls, or fraudulent websites to...
Please Advise
A formal-sounding request for guidance, common in email and ticket comments, often with a faint undertone of passing responsibility upward. In technical...
Postfix
A mail transfer agent used to route and deliver email on Unix-like systems.
Recruiter Spam
Low-quality, high-volume outreach from recruiters that is generic, poorly targeted, or clearly based on shallow keyword matching. Developers often use the...
Reply All
The email action that responds to every recipient on a thread, often necessary in some contexts and regrettable in others. It is a small workplace mechanic...
RIP Inbox
A phrase used when a person or shared mailbox is about to be overwhelmed by messages, alerts, or replies. It often appears after a popular launch or an...
SMTP
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol — the standard protocol for sending email across the internet. SMTP handles outbound delivery between mail servers on port 25 (or...
Spam
Unsolicited bulk messages, especially email. Named after the Monty Python sketch where the word 'Spam' drowns out all other conversation — which is exactly...
Spear Phishing
A highly targeted phishing attack directed at a specific individual or organization, using personalized information to increase credibility and success rate.

Related Topics