# 'inbox' as a verb. When did this start? And how prevalent is it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 12, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inbox-as-a-verb-when-did-this-start-and-how-prevalent-is-it/560492 "2010-11-12T22:38:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inbox-as-a-verb-when-did-this-start-and-how-prevalent-is-it/560492/1 "2010-11-12T22:38:26Z")
I’ve noticed my niece do this on facebook. “Someone inbox me” which I assume to mean “Someone initiate a facebook message conversation with me” To my 31 year old mind an inbox is well established as being a folder in an email client that serves as the first port of call for newly received unsorted emails. Thus it looks wrong to see the word ‘inbox’ used differently. Is it common? ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inbox-as-a-verb-when-did-this-start-and-how-prevalent-is-it/560492/2 "2010-11-12T22:45:23Z")
Urbandictionary says inbox as a verb is mostly on Facebook. Doesn’t give a date. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inbox-as-a-verb-when-did-this-start-and-how-prevalent-is-it/560492/3 "2010-11-13T08:32:31Z")
I’ve never heard someone say ‘inbox’ me. To be honest it sounds vaguely dirty. Most normal humans say “email me” even when they mean on facebook. In that case, they say “email me on facebook” ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inbox-as-a-verb-when-did-this-start-and-how-prevalent-is-it/560492/4 "2010-11-13T08:59:09Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > To my 31 year old mind an inbox is well established as being a folder in an email client that serves as the first port of call for newly received unsorted emails. Quoi? An inbox is very clearly a bin on a desk into which unread memos, reports and sundry papers can be placed to await a response from the desk owner. Since when has it been used for email? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inbox-as-a-verb-when-did-this-start-and-how-prevalent-is-it/560492/5 "2010-11-13T19:14:53Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Quoi? An inbox is very clearly a bin on a desk into which unread memos, reports and sundry papers can be placed to await a response from the desk owner. Since when has it been used for email? You’re thinking of an in_tray_, surely. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inbox-as-a-verb-when-did-this-start-and-how-prevalent-is-it/560492/6 "2010-11-13T19:29:07Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Quoi? An inbox is very clearly a bin on a desk into which unread memos, reports and sundry papers can be placed to await a response from the desk owner. Since when has it been used for email? Since at least 1993, since that’s when I started working at a bank and using email extensively, and it was called an “inbox” there. The metaphor was drawn directly from the original meaning you cite, as was the metaphor for “desktop,” “trash can,” “folder,” and dozens of other computer interface terms. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inbox-as-a-verb-when-did-this-start-and-how-prevalent-is-it/560492/7 "2010-11-13T22:12:57Z")
It’s common on Facebook because that’s what you clicked on to check your messages for a while. Apparently even Zuckerman thought it was stupid and renamed it to Messages. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inbox-as-a-verb-when-did-this-start-and-how-prevalent-is-it/560492/8 "2010-11-13T22:18:56Z")
I’ve never heard that one, but the one that annoys me is when people I work with - all graduate degree level educators - use “consequence” as a verb. As in: “Have we decided how we are going to consequence this young man for (insert some sort of bad thing the kid did)?” ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inbox-as-a-verb-when-did-this-start-and-how-prevalent-is-it/560492/9 "2010-11-14T00:11:43Z")
‘Verbing weirds language.’ Calvin and Hobbes this one’s new to me ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inbox-as-a-verb-when-did-this-start-and-how-prevalent-is-it/560492/10 "2010-11-15T01:28:15Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Since at least 1993, since that’s when I started working at a bank and using email extensively, and it was called an “inbox” there. The metaphor was drawn directly from the original meaning you cite, as was the metaphor for “desktop,” “trash can,” “folder,” and dozens of other computer interface terms. I think **Inner Stickler** was poking fun of **Lobsang** for complaining about the definition of ‘inbox’ expanding while (apparently) not realizing that his own electronic based definition was an expansion of its original physical reality-based definition. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inbox-as-a-verb-when-did-this-start-and-how-prevalent-is-it/560492/11 "2010-11-16T01:24:11Z")
I was being stubborn in a sarcastic way (or sarcastic in a stubborn way)… The original definition of an ‘inbox’ (also called intray) is out of date. The current definition is correct (mine) The facebook definition is stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inbox-as-a-verb-when-did-this-start-and-how-prevalent-is-it/560492/12 "2010-11-16T01:38:26Z")
You can verb any old word. Verb verb verb, verb-verb’s the word! ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inbox-as-a-verb-when-did-this-start-and-how-prevalent-is-it/560492/13 "2010-11-16T02:39:45Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > I think **Inner Stickler** was poking fun of **Lobsang** for complaining about the definition of ‘inbox’ expanding while (apparently) not realizing that his own electronic based definition was an expansion of its original physical reality-based definition. :smack: Sorry, my sarcasmeter has been acting up lately. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inbox-as-a-verb-when-did-this-start-and-how-prevalent-is-it/560492/14 "2010-11-16T05:02:50Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > I was being stubborn in a sarcastic way (or sarcastic in a stubborn way)… > > The original definition of an ‘inbox’ (also called intray) is out of date. > > The current definition is correct (mine) > > The facebook definition is stupid. Well, change the middle line to ‘the current definition is current’ and dump the rest and I’ll agree ---
**Author:** ![NIckDavies1955](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e36b37/32.png) [@NIckDavies1955](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NIckDavies1955)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inbox-as-a-verb-when-did-this-start-and-how-prevalent-is-it/560492/15 "2011-09-23T13:11:28Z")
I regret to announce that the use of “inbox me!” has spread beyond facebook. I received an email from a film extra agency which invited me “to inbox” if I was interested. It sounds snappy and hip and retarded. I deplore it. ---
**Author:** ![NIckDavies1955](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e36b37/32.png) [@NIckDavies1955](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NIckDavies1955)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inbox-as-a-verb-when-did-this-start-and-how-prevalent-is-it/560492/16 "2011-09-23T13:15:39Z")
> [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](#): > > I’ve never heard that one, but the one that annoys me is when people I work with - all graduate degree level educators - use “consequence” as a verb. > > As in: “Have we decided how we are going to consequence this young man for (insert some sort of bad thing the kid did)?” This is so wrong. I hope you have killed the idiots responsible and displayed their heads on spikes as warning to all. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inbox-as-a-verb-when-did-this-start-and-how-prevalent-is-it/560492/17 "2011-09-23T13:25:52Z")
> [@NIckDavies1955](#): > > This is so wrong. I hope you have killed the idiots responsible and displayed their heads on spikes as warning to all. So they can example others, you mean? ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inbox-as-a-verb-when-did-this-start-and-how-prevalent-is-it/560492/18 "2011-09-23T14:28:34Z")
Ain’t never heard it. ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inbox-as-a-verb-when-did-this-start-and-how-prevalent-is-it/560492/19 "2011-09-23T17:20:10Z")
I’ve not heard inbox used as a verb, but it strikes me as a buzzword fad, just as “interface” was some years ago, i.e., “Let’s interface over lunch and strategize our plan.” ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inbox-as-a-verb-when-did-this-start-and-how-prevalent-is-it/560492/20 "2011-09-23T17:37:34Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > So they can example others, you mean? You’re truthing us. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inbox-as-a-verb-when-did-this-start-and-how-prevalent-is-it/560492.md?page=2)