It's not ä but æ like in encyclopædia and archæology. British English generally simplified to ae. American English generally simplified to e. Wikipedia page has more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86

If diaeresis is too hard a word to deal with, we can just call it trema.

in British English. the former perhaps intended the variant (or American) dieresis

still, neither are diuresis, which nobody wants

Just as there was a "slashdot effect", I think we should apply for an "HN Tangent" - the effects being something like whiplash to the brain as the discussion veers off in directions undreamt of.

Thank you for enlightening me.