TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:alternatives to smilies From:mpriestley -at- VNET -dot- IBM -dot- COM Date:Tue, 22 Feb 1994 14:35:13 EST
Just as a late addition to that discussion, I wanted to add a couple of
conventions I've seen around IBM (both deriving from GML-type tagging):
First, generic remarks: instead of saying "by Allah!" or equivalent, use a
redefinable "&deity.!" (anything between & and . are "variables").
Other uses: "Oh, you're getting married? &appropriateremark.!"
Second, tone-tagging: signal changes in tone with beginning and ending tags,
as in:
:righteous anger.
Did not! Never! Can't prove it!
:erighteous anger.
or
:grovel.
I was wrong, wrong, wrong. 'Scuse me while I suck on my shoelaces.
:egrovel.
This kind of added expression is useful, flexible, and obscure, much like
the SGML tagging it derives from.
Later all,
Michael Priestley
mpriestley -at- vnet -dot- ibm -dot- com
Disclaimer: my opinions, not IBM's.
