Hi there! Looks like you linked to a Lemmy community using an URL instead of its name, which doesn't work well for people on different instances. Try fixing it like this: !fediverse@lemmy.ml

[–] wakest@lemmy.ml 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I posted this from mastodon where you can't link to communities in that way...

[–] rikudou@lemmings.world 1 points 2 years ago

Well, in that case ignore it, it at least provides a clickable link for Lemmy users.

[–] BlessedDog@lemmy.ml 0 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I thought it was typed "a URL", not " an URL"

Not sure though, dont kill me, English isn't my native language.

[–] rikudou@lemmings.world 2 points 2 years ago

It has been fixed, thanks!

[–] 133arc585@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

They're both acceptable in English. The rule is generally "an" if the following word starts with a vowel. But, it gets a bit tricky with initialisms (like URL) because URL is normally pronounced something like "you-are-ell", and not "earl". So the spelling starts with a vowel, but the pronunciation doesn't. Nobody would fault you for using one or the other in a situation like this.

[–] Valmond@lemmy.ml 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

TIL, I always thought the sound made the law (so a URL but not an URL)

[–] 133arc585@lemmy.ml 0 points 2 years ago

I'm sure some style guide(s) have hard and fast rules but being called out for it in everyday conversation doesn't (shouldn't) happen for something like that. English also isn't French, it doesn't have a regulatory body, and so attempting to pin down certain things as definitively correct or definitively wrong isn't always a reasonable thing to do.