Thursday, March 24, 2011

Typecast: A Treatise on the Smiley Face :-)

18 comments:

  1. I'm happy to know I'm not the only one that spells out every word in text messages.

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  2. You need *something* for that application. In a hundred years of ham radio we use HIHI, from Morse code. I've heard it was originally HEEHEE but when you run two E's together it sounds like I.

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  3. I don't generally LOL either in digital print or IRL. I find I use lots of textspeak in a way that I intend as ironic, but I wonder how much of the irony is actually conveyed (and, thus, how much I'm coming across as just an aging, pathetic hanger-on).

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  4. My teenage son pronounces "LOL" like "loll", so your charges were clearly setting a trend. And I'm not sure whether you should thank them for that or not.

    Oh, and

    :-)

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  5. I can understand using the smiley face because you're not trying to cop-out of proper spelling. It's a picture, whereas LOL, UR and garbage like that are just, well, lame.

    I once debated this with a friend of mine. He said I was being a spelling and grammar nazi for disliking how he (and many others) frequently use improper spelling and punctuation with electronic communication. The humorous thing is that he is (and admits to being) TERRIBLE when it comes to spelling, grammar and punctuation. Go figure.

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  6. So, you are asying that words actually mean things? and that your choice of words indicate specific intentions? Oh, what a novel concept in these post-literate times!

    Following a recent seminar and dinner, both arranged by a very attractive lady I'd met once before, I wrote a note of thanks to the hostess. It was hand-written, and had complete sentences. She was delighted. Her boss even sent me an e-mail, thanking me for taking the time to be so considerate.

    Yes, all those things we learned about spelling and grammar and syntax matter. Your decision to eliminate silly, shorthand terms is a mature and proper thing.

    Oh, and by the way (BTW), LOLL might mean "laughing on the floor, lasciviously" which would be appropriate to the sensibilities of a modern, teenage girl.

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  7. After posting that, I started thinking about what I had written. LOLL would be "laughing out loud, lasciviously." This is what happens when our fingers move faster than our brains.

    Did anyone else notice that the kids were "10 and L3" or am I just too aware of having to use a lowercase ell as a number one?

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  8. I've been a member of a certain guitar-related mailing list for...um...a long time. Since the late 90s, if I'm figuring right. Back in the day, there was one poster who used UR for your or you're (both!), and U for you, and 2 for any form of to/two/too. It bothered me sooo much that I deleted most of his messages without ever bothering to read them. Just couldn't hack it.

    I had no idea that in a few short years, things would get much, much, much worse. At least he actually used punctuation.

    But I like my smiley faces. :-)

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  9. @MTCoalhopper - I definitely noticed it! I meant to correct before scanning, but never got around to it.

    And then I wondered whether I should add a P.S. to the post pointing out all my silly mistakes "10 and L3", (pinky finger moved faster than brain on that one!) "wreck" instead of "wreak" havoc, and other miscellaneous typos... ah, the fun of typing!

    I was hoping you lot would understand :-)

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  10. I should also consider removing "lol" from my conversations. Like you, I use the smiley face quite liberally, as well as the occasional <3 (which is also tattooed on my inner forearm). I haven't heard of Strunk and White, but I did enjoy Eats, Shoots, and Leaves.

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  11. I completely forgot to mention the colleague who would sign off her messages with "LOL, Anna". So clueless was she to the evolution of LOL as a text speak acronym (admittedly, she was not very tech savvy) that she was using it to mean "lots of love". Of course, it made me giggle every time I saw it!

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  12. You should see how Portuguese and Spanhish have been corrupted by SMS writing style... As for smileys, they do not affect grammar, spelling or punctuation, being quite a benign way to enliven a though imho.

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  13. I saw that this morning too! Great coincidence... and how sad to learn that we have lost the battle against text speak. Well, we hold-outs can huddle here and discuss further strategies...

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  14. Indeed! Thanks for pointing the article for us, LFP. That is a sad capitulation...

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  15. I do the SAME thing as Duffy Moon. Oh my gosh. Using text speak ironically is SO Generation X.

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  16. I too am one of those annoying sticklers for correct usage and spelling and the like. And to get really confessional and honest - I like reading style guides. How sad is that ;-). This is starting to sound like a Grammar Nerd (or SNOOT) support group... Hi, my name's Rino and I still believe in proper em dashes! (or em rules for you old school grammar fiends)

    Also, I've noticed some lefthanders align their smilies the other way, like (-: - bless their southpaws.

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