On: Emacs Modernization: Simple Changes Emacs Should A...

[phist_mcgee]

`You can also type Meta characters using two-character sequences starting with ESC. Thus, you can enter M-a by typing ESC a. You can enter C-M-a (holding down both Ctrl and Alt, then pressing a) by typing ESC C-a. Unlike Meta, ESC is entered as a separate character. You don’t hold down ESC while typing the next character; instead, press ESC and release it, then enter the next character. This feature is useful on certain text terminals where the Meta key does not function reliably.`

Taken from: https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Us...

I'm really not sure that this counts as 'well documented'.

[BeetleB → phist_mcgee]

How would you phrase it? I find it to be quite clear.

[mattkrause → BeetleB]

Agreed. The paragraph above it explains that Meta is probably the alt key.

The terminology itself is kind of a relic from the past (it's gotta be Alt on 99.9% of emacs users' systems), but it's explained very clearly.