From: James Britt <jamesUNDERBARb@...>
Date: 2004-11-26T00:47:26+09:00
Subject: Re: Email tone (was Re: [Solution] Object Browser (#8))

Alexander Kellett wrote:
> On Nov 25, 2004, at 3:24 PM, Robert McGovern wrote:
> 
>>> End ambiguity in written sarcasm.
>>> Use the sarcasm hat "^"
>>> ^and be the envy of all your friends^
>>>
>>> Support the sarcasm mark --
>>> Shift+6 on a keyboard near you!
>>
>>
>> I do like the idea of the Dave, thanks
> 
> 
> ditto. this sort of stuff has caused argument after argument for me 
> these past weeks. yay for telephones. boo for people that won't answer 
> them and prefer electronics means

Once upon a time, there was no telephone, nor Internet, nor any 
electronic means of communication.  People had prolonged, albeit 
temporally displaced, exchanges using mere text.

I'm fairly certain they managed to convey mirth, anger, leg-pulling, 
puzzlement, and assorted other mental states with general success, all 
without the use of smileys or other forms of arbitrary text decoration 
and punctuation hacks.

I suspect that the telephone has done more to degrade the quality of 
writing than any electronic tool; people have become so accustomed to 
relying on tone of voice to convey information that they write as if the 
sound they hear in their head carries over to the written word.

If you are being sarcastic, and want people to know it, one clever trick 
is to write, "I'm being sarcastic."



James