Ken,

It's a matter of "direction." ... The screen talking back - they
are "your"s -- you own them, you set them - but I abide by them.

This is the context I think applies - the user is a visitor at a web site. What appears on the page is the site talking back to you.

Note that the confusion complaints aren't by seasoned users ...
-- It's those who are afraid that clicking something they aren't
supposed to might blow up the world, or at least their laptop.

I fully agree with this point of view, please don't take my disagreement with any of the specific examples as a dismissal of your overall goal.

Settings can occur in different areas.

Indeed they can. And that leads to my primary objection for using that word as the link here. The context of the column of links on the left is "pages of this group". So absent the possessive pronoun I'm concerned that the timid user may be afraid of finding group settings there, and perhaps "blowing up" the group.

My thought was that /Subscription/ better implies a personal connection to the user - in the context of a group it could only refer to one's personal subscription to that group.

At least "Preferences" (display, communication, etc) would be
recognizable.

That's not bad. It may be better.

I think it has a much more personal connotation than /Settings/, and a more "friendly" one. Something offered as your preference doesn't seem as risky as (read with a booming ominous voice in your head) A SETTING.

It would also be consistent usage with the Preferences page in your Account.

But regardless, consistency is the key - when one goes from one screen
to another or to a help page, there are different terms for the same
items that a novice has to stop and wonder, ...

Perhaps the tech writer will take on the challenge of spotting those cases for correction.
https://beta.groups.io/g/main/message/20986

Meanwhile, I imagine Mark would welcome having them pointed out here.

Shal