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News & ArtsFriday, January 15, 2010
Books On Patenting Punctuation
Posted by Paul Constant on Fri, Jan 15, 2010 at 2:36 PM
Lack of inflection is obviously a big problem, now that more people than ever before communicate on a regular basis using the written word. Emoticons are the answer that has widely been accepted, but something a little more formal would be useful. I actually think that a sarcasm punctuation mark would be a useful thing, but I don't know if I'd be willing to pay two bucks for it. Maybe we should just repurpose the carat, instead? (I can hear you now: "^Yeah, sure, that's a great idea, genius.^")
3
I figured that the result of this little sales stunt would just be that we would choose a free symbol instead.
Of course, instead of using stupid emoticons, you could just write well enough that your tone is understood. But that would be asking too much.
Of course, instead of using stupid emoticons, you could just write well enough that your tone is understood. But that would be asking too much.
6
Paul, this is such a great idea. I'm serious. Get a Stranger campaign behind it, ala Santorum and make it a nation-wide phenom. I will use this in the future and explain to people what it means till it catches on.
7
The sarcasm punctuation mark already exists, it is the tilde (~).
e.g. "Yeah, that's a great idea~"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilde
My first experience with it is Koreans(?) using it as shorthand for "la~", whatever the hell that means, in a sarcastic manner back on Battle.Net in the 90s.
e.g. "Yeah, that's a great idea~"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilde
My first experience with it is Koreans(?) using it as shorthand for "la~", whatever the hell that means, in a sarcastic manner back on Battle.Net in the 90s.
8
If people can't understand your intent when reading your words, you should work on writing better. Sarcasm is only funny if it doesn't announce itself in this way.
9
now that web-fonts are getting into vogue, I think we should, instead of a mark or anything, just have ComicSans MS be the official sarcasm font. It would at least cut down on underuse
10
Four two bucks I will berate you over IMs until you stop being too thick and/or too naive to not keep your sarcasm detectors perpetually operating while on the internets.
11
Four two bucks? That should be for two bucks, my mistake.
Although I will accept forty-two bucks as well.
Although I will accept forty-two bucks as well.
17
@4 that's an interesting reaction, I just wish there were a way for me to know if you're being sarcastic or not.
19
"Oh interesting," he vividly exclaimed!
"Now we can have writing that doesn't show -- it can tell! "
"This is a huge advance," he said, thoughtfully.
"Now we can have writing that doesn't show -- it can tell! "
"This is a huge advance," he said, thoughtfully.
20
If you have to pay money to use it, nobody will use it. They'll use the free equivalent, or nothing. This isn't a fucking cure for cancer.
22
There is no inherent limitation to sarcasm in writing. Any failed attempt to write something sarcastic, or to understand written sarcasm is the fault of the individual, not the medium.
23
I don't think I've ever seen an "inventor" try to pass off a product as its own trademark. I suppose it's fitting that the thing looks as if it's trying to disappear up its own asshole.
Still, I think some sort of universally accepted "sarcasm mark" would be a wonderful addition to the language. Coders could then easily create a simple browser plug-in that would automatically filtering out 95% of all lame attempts at humor.
Still, I think some sort of universally accepted "sarcasm mark" would be a wonderful addition to the language. Coders could then easily create a simple browser plug-in that would automatically filtering out 95% of all lame attempts at humor.
24
I like it! You don't see the caret used for anything, ever, so let's use it more often. I can already see lots of comments that involve both a caret and a stick.
Thank you, I'll be here all week.
Thank you, I'll be here all week.
25
The irony mark (؟) has been around for over 100 years with no widespread adoption. Doesn't that suggest that there's no real need?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony_mark
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony_mark
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