Use Of Punctuation In A Post And What Is Annoying or Confusing

[Karibou]

Originally Posted by Rick TYler

I don't troll on Delphi, but in the old days I would have just responded "YHBT, HAND." Oh, when men were men and Craig Shergold stories filled tafkac...

I don't even know what YHBT, HAND means. I dnt think iv tlkd liek thIs since the end of 6th grade.

I'm extremely guilty of incorrectly using ellipses. I generally use them because I'm either not confident in what I'm saying (and they can imply uncertainty), or because I don't know how to finish my thought and would like someone to finish it for me. Or I use them to show my train of thought.

Remember, punctuation matters. A colon* is the difference between a panda eating, shooting, and leaving, and the same panda eating shoots and leaves.


*side note: I was amazed when nobody in my English class knew what a colon was used for. In a class of about 20 high school students, I was the only one who didn't respond to our teacher's question with a blank stare. It was shocking.

[Rick TYler]

Originally Posted by Karibou

*side note: I was amazed when nobody in my English class knew what a colon was used for. In a class of about 20 high school students, I was the only one who didn't respond to our teacher's question with a blank stare. It was shocking.

Now, if that had been an anatomy class, you would have had LOTS of correct answers!

(ObExplanation: YHBT, HAND = You have been trolled, have a nice day.)

(MoreExplanation: In the above case, where I was NOT trolling, Andrew did what used to be known as "jumping into the boat." I was making a little joke and Andrew, who quite honestly doesn't know me nearly well enough to be sure that my misspelling was accidental, thought it was genuine. Hence, if I had been trolling to attract a clueless answer, and Andrew took the bait even if it were not actually proffered, I would have been expected to post, "and sometimes they just jump into the boat." We were all Really Funny in the Olden Tymes.)(See, misspelling "spelling" on purpose was a shibboleth. You utes have to go look that up, I don't have time to 'splain it right now.)

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Rick TYler

(See, misspelling "spelling" on purpose was a shibboleth. You utes have to go look that up, I don't have time to 'splain it right now.)

It's a reference to Judges 12. If you said "Shibboleth", you were fine. If you said "Sibboleth", due to not being able to pronounce "Shibboleth", you were six feet under.

It's like a password.

Now, back on topic: I generally won't call you on spelling and grammar errors. If you're constantly misspelling words, or it's a really funny misspelling, I might, though. I make enough mistakes myself that I get enough proofreading practice that way.