Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2000 11:11:59 -0700 From: "Freddie Cash" <fcash@sd73.bc.ca> To: chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Punctuation conventions Message-ID: <3937967F.17328.A70476@localhost> In-Reply-To: <4.3.2.7.2.20000602113424.04a2caf0@localhost> References: <20000602180619.B232@parish>
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> >Maybe they find quote marks annoying in our novels. > To me, the most annoying misuse of quotes in English is for emphasis. > Italics, boldface, or all caps are less confusing. I prefer to use single quotes to show emphasis, although I find that placing an asterisk around the word works best in e-mail. Of course, it all depends on the level of emphasis one is going for. The joys of standards, that are anything but standard anymore. :-) > My guess is that this misuse arises because one sometimes sees > quotes used as an editorial device to express sarcasm or > incredulity at the use of a word or term. (An equivalent > "quotes" gesture is often used in face-to-face conversation.) > But apparently, some folks who don't get the sarcasm mistake > both the typographical convention and the gesture as signifying > emphasis. Ugh! I can't stand it when people use the curled-fingers "" to show sarcasm. Unless they are very young, it makes them look very silly. :-) Just emphasize / sarcastify your comment using tone/expression. Freddie Software Support Co-op School District 73 fcash@sd73.bc.ca To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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