Re: Is this a typo?

From: Thomas Munro <thomas(dot)munro(at)gmail(dot)com>
To: Peter Smith <smithpb2250(at)gmail(dot)com>
Cc: Chao Li <li(dot)evan(dot)chao(at)gmail(dot)com>, Pgsql Hackers <pgsql-hackers(at)postgresql(dot)org>
Subject: Re: Is this a typo?
Date: 2025-11-11 04:45:41
Message-ID: CA+hUKGL9C_G2saj1U1pZKfHCOYc+aqkuiTUF5uco=R4wmUH51Q@mail.gmail.com
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On Tue, Nov 11, 2025 at 4:45 PM Peter Smith <smithpb2250(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
> IMO it's a typo. The correct spelling is "cacheable", so it should be
> corrected where you reported and also in the other two places.

+1

I think the incorrect spelling fits the usual pattern (movable,
valuable, believable, ... with moveable accepted but dying), and it's
definitely "caching" without the -e-, so it's probably a tempting
mistake to make, but apparently we're making new words out of bits of
French with the C preprocessor ## operator and ignoring all that. I
bet it's "cachable" en français though. My Oxford Concise lists only
the -e- form, so you have my vote. The online Merriam-Webster (I
think that's the main reference for US spelling?) doesn't list either
and suggests I might be looking for cashable.

Now can anyone explain why database people write "sargable[1]", but
universally pronounce it as "sargeable"? That shows the reason to
keep an e around before an a, in our chaotic spelling system, if you
can call it a system :-)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargable

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