1982年，縮寫自 electronic mail（1977年； 見 electronic + mail（n.1））； 這導致了對舊系統的蔑視性應用 snail mail（1983年）。
Even aerial navigation in 1999 was found too slow to convey and deliver the mails. The pneumatic tube system was even swifter, and with such facilities at hand it is not surprising that people in San Francisco received four daily editions of the Manhattan journals, although the distance between Sandy Hook and the Golden Gate is a matter of 3,600 miles. ["Looking Forward," Arthur Bird, 1899]
即使在1999年，空中導航也被發現傳遞和遞送郵件太慢了。氣壓管系統更快，有了這樣的設施，舊金山的人們每天收到四份曼哈頓報紙的最新版，儘管桑迪胡克和金門之間的距離是3600英里。["Looking Forward," Arthur Bird, 1899]
美聯社風格指南將其縮寫爲 email 2011年。
