Comment by enriquto

Typically you would use "least" and "greatest" (for a partial order) or "first" and "last" (for a total order). It sounds very strange to talk about "min" and "max" for strings, for example. Do you call the first word on a dictionary the minimal word?

But then again, what can you expect from a language that uses "+", the quintessential notation for commutative operations, for the (very non-commutative) operation of concatenation?

Doubly sad when you realize that the language was designed by an actual mathematician.