English question

[Productivity]

Where do smilies fit into a sentence.

A. That was a joke .

B. That was a joke.

C. That was a joke

[Big_John]

i voted for b, but any of them are fine by me. depends on the context of the prose too.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

C

The period after the smiley looks stupid, and the smilie is part of the sentance so it shouldn't come after the period.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

I agree with Sasaki, the smiley is part of the sentence and having a period after is sorta dumb, usually I use them to end a sentence so they act as an expression and a period.

[Mouzafphaerre]

-
B. Smilies are graphical elements, not punctuation or a regular part of the sentence.
-

[Beirut]

The smiley is not part of the sentence, but an affectation.

It comes after the period.

You don't show an emotion that states your frame of mind until you know what the story is. And the emotion you show is in relation to the entire context, it is not part of the context. The smiley is a suggestion, an adjective, showing both the writers intent and the reader's assumed perception of what the writer has written. This cannot come until the entire statement governing the smiley has been expressed.

It comes after the period. Unless it it incorporated so as to be a irreplaceable part of the context/phrase itself.

Such as; 'I like " or "I do not want to for what I did."

But in "That was a joke. " the smiley is obviously a condiment to the main course of the phrase. Not part of it.

It comes after the period.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

I would personally write out hang and smooch or whatever. It depends on the person and until they are a valid piece of an english paper people can do it however they want, I will keep using them as an emotion and period though...

[Beirut]

I understand your point, but web writing is a world unto itself.

I have two sisters with Masters degrees and a brother two years into his PhD. They all write like ten year olds in their emails. Drives me up the wall.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Wow, usually uif I think I misspelled something I check with wordperfect to make sure I spell it right.

Do they use punctuation and such in their e-mails?

[Big_John]

Do they use punctuation and such in their e-mails?

no punctuation, no caps, no spaces, no line breaks.. it's nearly impossible to read. here's a sample:

dearbeirutheybrowtfiheardyousaidthatiwritelikea10yearoldonsomeinternetforumnotcooldudeimgoingtohunty oudownandbreakyoutellmomisaidhittyl

i mean.. wow.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaa?????


That is just not right, doesn't the Geneva convention ban that sort of warfare?????

[Big_John]

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaa?????


That is just not right, doesn't the Geneva convention ban that sort of warfare?????

lol, am i to assume you're referring to my post? i'm surprised at how difficult it was to write even a few words without hitting the space bar or punctuation keys.. force of habit is strong in me i s'pose.

[Kraellin]

technically, the smilie would come after the period. however, (and i do this often :), i'll use the original ascii smilies as part of the sentence, as in this one with the parentheses, but not the graphical ones.

K.

[KukriKhan]

I don't use smilies much, so I've also struggled with their proper placement. I voted "b", agreeing with Beirut's interpretation of usage.

The text should be able to stand on its own as a complete idea, and thus, should have a period at its end, indicating the completion of the expression of that idea.

The smilie is an extra modifier, or adjective, to the text sentence as a whole. It's actually a sentence of its own, clarifying the intent of the writer. It, in effect, says:

That was a joke. (If we were having this conversation face-to-face in real time, you would see a smile and wink on my face).

So I see smilies as a kind of 'whispered clarification of intent'. They have to be placed quite near the text being explained (nor more than 2 spaces, I'd say), lest they get attached to the next thought/sentence in the reader's mind, accidentally.

p.s. As a personal preference, I only like the "positive" smilies (smile, wink, grin, laugh, respect bow) to clarify my peaceful intent. The "negative" ones leave me cold; I figure my words alone can easily express sadness or anger.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

It's B, Beirut is spot on.

[Adrian II]

It's B, Beirut is spot on.

I'd have to with Beirut too.

[Beirut]

Praise from two Moderators. Be still my swelling head.

Damn, I'm feeling quite good about myself.

I just may go grab my woman and ravish her in order to better appreciate the moment.

*And Lord AdrianII as well. There shall be twice ravishment. For this is a great day!

[Adrian II]

*And Lord AdrianII as well. There shall be twice ravishment. For this is a great day!

I say, jolly the roger, ehm, roger the jolly hoist! So there!

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Aaaawwww the world really is against me......

I better go blow away some virtual people then, make me feel secure in my virtual combat prowess.

Let the guerilla war begin, everybody rise up and use smilies as periods as well!

Wait I was about to use a smilie after the exclamation... My life is a sham, I guess I give in, forget about the guerilla war everyone I just had my habit prove myself wrong....

[Togakure]

B.