Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site pegasus.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!floyd!harpo!eagle!hou5h!hou5a!hou5d!hogpc!pegasus!avi From: avi@pegasus.UUCP Newsgroups: net.flame Subject: :-)unbalanced parentheses(-: Message-ID: <930@pegasus.UUCP> Date: Mon, 13-Feb-84 19:26:30 EST Article-I.D.: pegasus.930 Posted: Mon Feb 13 19:26:30 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 17-Feb-84 02:35:59 EST Organization: AT&T Information Systems, Lincroft NJ Lines: 22 Ever since we all adopted the cute little "smiling face" method of indicating that we are kidding around, or being sarcastic, I have found my sensibilities being offended. How does one balance the parentheses in a sentence, when lopsided constructs like ":-)" and "(-:" are being used in a sentence!!!! Where do they fit grammatically? Is it before or after the period at the end of the sentence? Must we escape them with a backslash -- as in "\(-:" and "\:-)", or does this change their meaning? My temporary solution is to use "(-: :-)", which allows a balance to be maintained. Does this combination have any unwanted double meanings? Do they cancel each other out? Does anybody really care? Replacing parentheses by braces and various flavors of brackets (as in "<-:", "[-:", "{-:", ...) does not make it look any nicer. Does it really matter if you use a left-handed (sinister) smile? Is there a right way to do it? Since I can no longer unambiguously use these symbols, I would like to mention that all the above is meant in a combination of kidding/sarcasm. I am unhappy about the parenthesis situation, but the net is not written in Lisp, and most humans can parse relatively well. -- -=> Avi E. Gross @ AT&T Information Systems Laboratories (201) 576-6241 suggested paths: [ihnp4, allegra, cbosg, hogpc, ...]!pegasus!avi