MAIL ETIQUETTE PART 2 of 2 (fwd)

Bret Diamond (diam9018@TAO.SOSC.OSSHE.EDU)
Sat, 2 Dec 1995 22:16:38 -0800

> -----------------------------------------------------------
> HERE IS PART TWO OF TWO::::::::::::
> ________________________________________________________________
> A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE EMAIL:
> GESTURES
>
> Kaitlin Duck Sherwood ducky@webfoot.com
>
> _________________________________________________________________
>
> While you are unable to accompany your words with hand or
> facial
> gestures, there are several ASCII stand-ins for gestures.
>
> Smileys
>
> A facial gestures can be represented with "smiley": an ASCII
> drawing
> of a facial expression. The most common three are
>
> :-)
> ;-)
>
> and
>
> :-(
>
> (To understand these symbols, turn your head counter-clockwise
> and
> look at them sideways.)
>
> While people will have slightly different interpretations of
> the exact
> difference between the upper two, my personal opinion is that
> the
> upper one means more "I'm happy" and the lower one means more
> "I'm
> kidding".
>
> Typical examples:
>
> Hey, guess what - I got the left-handed
> thromblemeister spec done ahead of time! :-)
> I'm on my way to fame and fortune now! ;-)
>
> The second smiley, the ;-), indicates that you don't really
> believe
> that your boss will give you that big raise. It is similar to
> but not
> as fierce a rebutal as a "NOT!" appended to the end of a
> sentence:
>
> Hey, guess what - I got the left-handed
> thromblemeister spec done ahead of time! :-)
> I'm on my way to fame and fortune now! NOT!
>
> There are a wide range of ASCII gestures available to you,
> from ill
> %^P to angry >:-< to astonished :-o, limited only by your
> imagination.
> There is a whole Smiley dictionary out there if you are
> feeling
> uncreative. (Note: I personally think that some of the Smiley
> Dictionary definitions of the basic smileys aren't a totally
> accurate
> reflection of the way I see smileys used, but your milage may
> vary.)
>
> Pause Equivalents
>
> Imagine that you ask someone if you can turn the gain up to
> ten and a
> half. He says, "Well", then pauses for a long time, scratches
> his
> head, looks down at the floor, winces, grits his teeth, and
> says
> again, "Well", then pauses and says, "It might not explode".
> You'd get
> a sense of just how bad an idea it would be, while the text:
>
> Well, it might not explode.
>
> gives less information. I like to use lots of whitespace and
> typed-out
> vocalizations of "I'm thinking" sounds, as follows:
>
> Weeeellllll.... errr hem.
>
> Wellll, it *might* not explode.
>
> You can also use whitespace to make it more clear which words
> belong
> to which clause. For example, the following is very difficult
> to parse
>
> Did you want to use a left-handed thromblemeister or a
> right-handed one with a half-twist or a Jackadoody
> brocket?
>
> You could instead say:
>
> Did you want to use
> a left-handed thromblemeister
> or
> a right-handed one with
> a half-twist
> or
> a Jackadoody brocket?
>
> or
>
> Did you want to use
> a left-handed thromblemeister
> or
> a right-handed one with a half-twist
> or
> a right-handed one with a Jackadoody brocket?
>
> as appropriate. My mom goes one step further, and suggests
> hauling out
> Mrs. Grundy's notes on outlines:
>
> Did you want to use:
> 1. a left-handed thromblemeister
> or
> 2. a right-handed one with a
> a. half-twist
> b. Jackadoody brocket
>
> Creative Punctuation
>
> I tend to use a lot of punctuation in what I call "comic book
> style".
> Instead of saying:
>
> I am very confused and a little upset. Why did
> you give my report to Jack instead of Jill?
>
> I'd say:
>
> ???!??! Why did you give my report to Jack
> instead of Jill?!?
>
> The question mark is kind of shorthand for a furrowed brow or
> a
> "huh?". The exclamation mark is shorthand for amazement and
> possibly a
> scowl. The two together seem to mean astonishment.
>
> There is a long and proud tradition of using punctuation as a
> placeholder for swearing, e.g. That #%(*! You will also
> sometimes see
> an asterisk in place of important letters, usually the vowel,
> e.g.
> That son of a b*tch! or That son of a b****! or very rarely
> That s*n
> of a b*tch!. (In actual practice, this form of self-censorship
> is
> rare; it is more common for people to either use the whole
> word or
> omit it completely.)
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
>
> Last modified 10 Dec 1994
>
> This document is in the public domain. You may copy it,
> modify it, shred
> it, mail it to your neighbor, put it on a telephone pole,
> tack it up on a
> bathroom wall, or anything else that you feel like doing with
> it. Some
> credit would be nice but is not necessary.
>
> From Fri Dec 1 11:29:01 1995
> Received: from fiport.funet.fi ([128.214.109.150]) by nic.funet.fi with SMTP id <85249-1>; Fri, 1 Dec 1995 21:30:32 +0200
> Date: Fri, 1 Dec 1995 21:30:44 +0000
> From: "L-Soft list server at Finnish University & Research Network (1.8b)" <LISTSERV@LISTSERV.FUNET.FI>
> Subject: Message ("Your message dated Fri, 01 Dec 1995 11:27:12...")
> To: Bret Diamond <diam9018@TAO.SOSC.OSSHE.EDU>
> Message-Id: <95Dec1.213032+0200_eet.85249-1+162@nic.funet.fi>
>
> Your message dated Fri, 01 Dec 1995 11:27:12 -0800 (PST) with subject "Re:
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