Puncuation fads

If you aren't from America or English isn't your first language, ignore this post, for I am a kermugin (sp?)

I've noticed an interesting trend among people everywhere, and I would like to ask if anyone knows anything about it. I've noticed a rush of people putting a space before their puncuation like this:

How are you today ? Fine, thanks . How about you ?

If English isn't your first langauge, then you are excused, but if you grew up speaking English, and if you went to a school where you were taught English, this is inexcusable! Punctuaith is directly after the words! Same goes for commas; right after the word, and one space after each comma. And another trend:

Hi there.............................................. my name is Darwin.

3 periods per eclipse only please!

Thanks for listening

Hey... I try to stick to the 3 period rule... sometimes, my fingers get a bit happy.... see?

But what if you want to indicate a really, really.............................................................................................................................................. REALLY long pause?

I also have a 3 period rule. And I generally always type with correct spelling and punctuation; though if I make a mistake and being hasty I sometimes don't fix the problem.

A really long pause? I'd do one of two things.

Daemioth Sklar's Extra Long Pause Methods:

1. Stick to the three period rule, but put a space inbetween two sets of triplized (hehe) periods. ... ... ... Like that.

2. A more probable method of mine would be to end the sentence with a triple period, then enter it on the chat screen.
...
Then enter a triple period, then enter that in the chat screen. Wait a moment for the pause to sink in. Then continue to chat. Often times this works best when the pause is supposed to anticipate something of comedy value, like...

Hi! I just love your mom, she's such a mad hottie!
...
I'M KIDDING!

Do you think I should hold an event on dramatized punctuation? Mwee hee...

cur·mudg·eon ( P ) Pronunciation Key (kr-mjn)
n.

An ill-tempered person full of resentment and stubborn notions.

Awlso pour spelling botherz me .

Everywon nows that pour speling and misplaced punctuuashun , alwayz meens that the persun typing is not intelligent .

It never meenz that peeples don't give a rats arse aboot proofreading casuawl forum posts .

-AP

/clap

Also... Its not called an 'eclipse'... its properly termed an 'ellipsis'... Thank you !

Didn't you read that Eggy?

Yep, but as a former english teacher I always feel the need to help people with their spelling. Besides, if you think I am the sheepish obedient type who does everything he is told you really need to get to know me better.

My, my Eggy. An English teacher too? You have an impressive resume.

And by the way we all love our resident kemugin Darwin, and recognize tounge in cheek.

Hmm. Extra long pause?

I picked this up off IRC: instead of using one of the other suggestions, say, "dotdotdot". Gets the point across very nicely, IMO.

However, I've only ever used it in situations that want either the equivalent of a rimshot, or a very eloquent silence.

Er. Ellipses don't mean "pause". Really.

They indicate an omission when quoting someone.
They only go inside quotations.
They should be preceded by a space, always. (They should not be flush up against the preceding word!)
They are delimited by spaces: . . ., not ...
They cannot be used at the start of a quotation.
They have 4 dots when used at the end of a sentence (to indicate the period): . . . .

In regards to pauses, note that short pauses are indicated by the comma; longer pauses by the semicolon.

Mmm, semantics.

And yes, even knowing this, I still use the ellipse to mean 'pause', leave out the spaces, and put it flush against the preceding word--because I'm careless and admirably lazy. I say nothing about people using ................... multiple periods, because if I can't take the time to do it right, why expect better from them?

Hehe.. going with what Pituca said.. you posted in the RL forums that you are a 23 year old Computer Science major in Portugal, Eggy--that'd confuzzling! But I'm just curious--do they have different requirements for teachers who teach English, then? I don't know much about the education program there.

Well I wouldnt call it an impressive resume, but aside from struggling to finish college I need to do some actual work in order to pay for it.
I started as a web developer for Educare, where I learned most of what I know about ASP/ADO, XML/XSLT and stuff like that.
Then a year later I taught English and Programming (in Delphi) at Telespot.
Then they hired me to build them a simple website, then they wanted me to build a few other websites for some customers of theirs and also had me setup a network for a school once, and now I'm recoding their website in PHP to be a little less "simple" and a little more flexible/easy to update (with a builtin content management system).

Booo asp! Yaaay php!

(Off topic in the forum, off topic in the thread.. OFF TOPIC THROUGH AND THROUGH! It's what im good at!)

I have nothing of importance to add here (one more to 1k)

In a chat I visited many years ago it was used to indicate that you were continuing the thought in the next typed line.

Period was end of thought or comment.

I don't think in the CyberWorld we can follow normal rules of grammar and punctuation. Ergo: New language is invented.

LindenSpeak!!!

I dont think there is any law forbidding someone to teach whatever to whoever, in Portugal or in other places.
Knowing English is a requirement for most jobs(IT or otherwise) so both universities and private institutions teach it. It's actually a very popular business since dumb teenagers tend to fall asleep in high-school English classes, so when they later realize how much its really needed, they search for companies who will teach it to them.
Many companies who offer computer-related courses, such as programming, or PC hardware/ computer assembly, have also begun to offer English courses.
This is why I taught both English and Programming at the same company, at the same time.
Of course I am by no means as fluent as a native - make that an educated native, rather than a 12 yr old AOLer
But I was always top of my class, averaging 19 in high school and 18 in college (on a scale of 1 to 20) and winning several writing contests.
Given that your average portuguese person can barely pronounce "me no speak english" it wasnt very hard to get the job - especially since my boss is one of the aforementioned "average" types

"whomever"


Oh geez, I'm going to start a war...

Touché...

Oh, THAT's why you speak such proper English - and yet have a mysterious command of the colloquial as well...

And what beautiful writings they are, Sir Eggy. Please translate more when you have the time. I'd love to read more of your work.

Heh Carrera, I'm glad you like my stuff but I thought I told you I stopped writing poems about a year ago. I might have some old stuff in backup CDs but odds are I'll never bother digging them up.
As for "whomever", find me an american who can correctly use "whom", and I will show you TEN americans who dont know the difference between "their" and "they're"... or where Iraq is... heh, I've met ppl in SL who didnt even know where Portugal was.
I never claimed I was perfect. My English is far better than your Portuguese and that's enough for me.
You dont need a fancy degree in order to teach basic english, much like you dont need to be an engineer in order to get a job doing web pages.
I mostly taught verb tenses... Present Simple, Perfect and Continuous, Simple Past, Past Perfect and Continuous... will, shall, and going to... that kinda basic stuff.

Haha, Dave, mysterious? I have posted over 400 times in this forum... take that as an indication of how much time I spend online... reading and writing in English