Dr. Shades's spelling and/or grammar lesson of the day

[Jersey Girl]

Remember when you could just type this : and follow it with one of these - and then follow that with this dealie ) and make an unobtrusive smilie?

autocorrect now changes those symbols including the symbol that you make without the - into a cartoon smilie face.

This from the admin who once said smilies make the board look like a kindergarten coloring book.

Excuse me while I

[canpakes]

Remember when you could just type this : and follow it with one of these - and then follow that with this dealie ) and make an unobtrusive smilie?

autocorrect now changes those symbols including the symbol that you make without the - into a cartoon smilie face.

I’ve always favored the old-school text version of many emoticons, and noticed a while back that I should insert the appropriate spacing between characters if I want to keep them from ‘auto-converting’.

If you see me use the graphic version, it’s entirely on purpose, but that rarely happens. : )

[Some Schmo]

I avoid emoticons primarily because I like to leave some things to the imagination.

Also, I don't want them to be a substitute for actual words.

[Nomomo]

I avoid emoticons primarily because I like to leave some things to the imagination.

Also, I don't want them to be a substitute for actual words.

I get your point Schmo, but a rolleyes (◔_◔) or other emoticon can be appropriate and helpful on occasion so folks don't mistake you for being serious. Familiarity with Moshka makes a misreading of one of his satirical posts extremely unlikely, but Res Ipsa had me goin' for a bit the other day in a reply to Moshka because I thought he was serious (he wasn't). If Moska had made that same reply post to Res Ipsa I would have recognized it as sarcasm/satire immediately, but only because of my familiarity with Moshka's wit.

[Some Schmo]

I avoid emoticons primarily because I like to leave some things to the imagination.

Also, I don't want them to be a substitute for actual words.

I get your point Schmo, but a rolleyes (◔_◔) or other emoticon can be appropriate and helpful on occasion so folks don't mistake you for being serious. Familiarity with Moshka makes a misreading of one of his satirical posts extremely unlikely, but Res Ispa had me goin' for a bit the other day in a reply to Moshka because I thought he was serious (he wasn't). If Moska had made that same reply post to Res Ispa I would have recognized it as sarcasm/satire immediately, but only because of my familiarity with Moska's wit.

I hear you. I'm not particularly critical of using emoticons. It's just a personal decision to discipline myself not to rely on them.

And I'll grant you, there have been times when my posts would have been clearer if I had included a smile.

[Res Ipsa]

I avoid emoticons primarily because I like to leave some things to the imagination.

Also, I don't want them to be a substitute for actual words.

I get your point Schmo, but a rolleyes (◔_◔) or other emoticon can be appropriate and helpful on occasion so folks don't mistake you for being serious. Familiarity with Moshka makes a misreading of one of his satirical posts extremely unlikely, but Res Ipsa had me goin' for a bit the other day in a reply to Moshka because I thought he was serious (he wasn't). If Moska had made that same reply post to Res Ipsa I would have recognized it as sarcasm/satire immediately, but only because of my familiarity with Moshka's wit.

Yeah, I find emoticons a useful substitute for tone of voice, facial expression, and other nonverbal cues. I forget that my sarcasm reads a lot like my regular “voice.”

[Dr. Shades]

Dear participants:

Please have a look at the following sentence:

Comparing me to the Red Pillars is like comparing your average Mormon to Nazy Germany.

ITEM #1:

• PILLAR: A structural column used to support weight, typically inside a large building.
• PILLER: Not actually a word, but meaning "one who pills," if the word "pill" is idiosyncratically used as a verb for "take a pill" instead of a noun.

ITEM #2:
Nouns are typically capitalized only when they're proper nouns, i.e. specific people, places, or things. "Red pillers" isn't the name of a specific formally named organization, therefore the two words shouldn't be capitalized (unless the first word is the first one inside a sentence, in which case it alone will be capitalized).

ITEM #3:

• NAZI: A member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party.
• NAZY: Not a word.

ITEM #4:

• NAZI GERMANY: The name of a country and its corresponding political system that existed from 1933 to 1945.
• NAZI: A member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party. Therefore, a human being can only be correctly compared to the latter, not the former.

Therefore, the above sentence should've been written:

Comparing me to the red pillers is like comparing your average Mormon to a Nazi.

Now go ye and sin no more.

[msnobody]

Dear participants:

Please have a look at the following sentence:

Comparing me to the Red Pillars is like comparing your average Mormon to Nazy Germany.

ITEM #1:

• PILLAR: A structural column used to support weight, typically inside a large building.
• PILLER: Not actually a word, but meaning "one who pills," if the word "pill" is idiosyncratically used as a verb for "take a pill" instead of a noun.

ITEM #2:
Nouns are typically capitalized only when they're proper nouns, i.e. specific people, places, or things. "Red pillers" isn't the name of a specific formally named organization, therefore the two words shouldn't be capitalized (unless the first word is the first one inside a sentence, in which case it alone will be capitalized).

ITEM #3:

• NAZI : A member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party.
• NAZY: Not a word.

ITEM #4:

• NAZI GERMANY: The name of a country and its corresponding political system that existed from 1933 to 1945.
• NAZI: A member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party. Therefore, a human being can only be correctly compared to the latter, not the former.

Therefore, the above sentence should've been written:

Comparing me to the red pillers is like comparing your average Mormon to a Nazi.

Now go ye and sin no more.

Get your Sharpie out and write the word “not” before the word “silently” on your magnet.

[Dr. Shades]

Have a look at the following sentence:

I have never heard of Bill Gothard so looked him up and was repulsed.(ewe!)

ITEM #1:
There should be a comma before the word "so" when it connects two independent clauses (i.e., two phrases that otherwise consist, or should consist, of complete sentences).

ITEM #2:
The second clause lacks a subject. Specifically, we are not told who looked up Bill Gothard. It was most likely the sentence's author, so the word "I" should've been placed between the words "so" and "looked."

ITEM #3:

• EWE: A female sheep.
• EWW: An expression of disgust.

ITEM #4:
When a sentence ends with material within parentheses, the original sentence's end punctuation must come after the final parenthesis.

Therefore, the quoted sentence should've been written:

I have never heard of Bill Gothard, so I looked him up and was repulsed (eww!).

Now you know better, so go ye and sin no more.

[High Spy]

Doth have have an o.