[stylist] Replacing emoticons with verbs

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

Jackie and others,

Ha-ha! The reason I use smile or grin or smirk, or the like, is because,
as most of us have experienced, in a written communication, meaning is
easily misinterpreted. Without knowing a person on a close, personal
level, we can't always judge how things are intended in a written form,
and even with close friends, it can still be difficult to determine.

After some issues with my words being misunderstood, I decided I should
replace emoticons, which aren't always accessible, with actual words so
my friends who are blind understand. Especially since I can be cynical
and sardonic, and have an off-beat, unusual sense of humor at times, it
has helped me tremendously to start adding these descriptions into my
text.

For example, my husband and I switched our relationship status to single
on Facebook a while back, being of like minds, we found it funny at the
time, but few others saw the humor, and we had quite a few people ring
and ask what happened. When we tried to explain it was a joke, the punch
line hung in the air with feeble "ohs."

If you know us, you know we have this type of humor, and tend to joke
like this since we're actually madly, deeply, crazy in love, but even
those who knew us didn't appreciate the joke, which I can understand,
but had we backed this up with something describing it as a joke, we
could have avoided all the phone calls.

A better example is when my best friend and I were emailing back and
forth about some stuff, and I wrote something, that had it been said in
person, the meaning would have been clear, but in written form, it came
across another way. We ended up in an email war for a couple of weeks
until we called a truce. We decided to start using this system of adding
words to denote meaning and sarcasm so we could avoid a similar
situation in the future.

So alas, I now just add these words in most my online communications,
replacing emoticons such as :), which would be a smile, smile!

And now you know the history behind my use of descriptive verbs at the
end of sentences! LOL (which for the texting-impaired means laugh out
loud) Yes, meant with sarcasm. See, covering my bases! LOL, smile, grin,
giggle!

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
 
"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan

Message: 17
Date: Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:58:18 -0700
From: "Jacqueline Williams" <jackieleepoet at cox.net>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [stylist] Schmanta Claus
Message-ID: <3ECA5D88D8164A998423EDAE92263772 at JackiLeePoet>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"

Chris,
I apologize for  critiquing your work on the basis of an emotional
reaction,
and not on the basis of the quality of your writing. There is no excuse
for
my having written a mini-bio to try to portray myself as unprejudiced
because of an unusual background. Then I preceded to show prejudice in
what
I wrote you.
You have several excellent critiques of your story which address the
many
strengths of characterization and nuances of it. I do agree with them. 
I listened to the story several more times, and I now realize, it is
true
that for Irving, his advice to the boy could be considered as selfless
and
intended to help the boy face the season with some optimism.
I was also able to isolate the  words that triggered my unreasonable
reaction. The Krishna's in the airport. I thought, "What has the Hindu
deity
got to do with this?" And my mind went right to the Sikh who was killed
several years ago in Mesa. He owned a gas station here, it was after
9-11,
and he wore a turban. Then my mind jumpted to Tororo, Uganda, where out
bus
driver was our beloved Sikh.  Talk about an emotional reaction to one or
two
words and how they can traverse the mind.  

No, I don't want to talk theology, and again, I apologize for that side
trip. I promise to study the critiques given here-in on fiction work,
and do
better in the future.
Also, please do not cut down on your so-called "dark" writings. I have
an
affinity for reading such things. Triggers are my own problem.

I might still look toward a sequel: "The Redemption of Irving." As
Bridget
would say, "Smile."
Jackie