# Stage Directions in postings: When did it start? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 26, 2016, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-directions-in-postings-when-did-it-start/764038 "2016-08-26T18:44:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-directions-in-postings-when-did-it-start/764038/21 "2016-08-28T00:06:24Z")
I would guess chat rooms. IRC (Internet Relay Chat) has [a command](http://www.livinginternet.com/r/ra_action.htm) where you can say that you do something instead of say something. You’d type “/me waves!” and it would put “BigT waves,” in a different color/font than normal speech if available. I would guess that, as people started chatting elsewhere, they came up with the ~waves~ or _waves_ notation. And of course that will spread to forums. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-directions-in-postings-when-did-it-start/764038/22 "2016-08-28T02:26:03Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Mirth, mIRC style… I know the commonly accepted origin of that is mIRC, but I’m 95% sure that I think I remember recalling\* that it was built into the software of a small dialup BBS chatroom I used to frequent. - 😛 (Hey, those memories are hazy, what can I say…) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-directions-in-postings-when-did-it-start/764038/23 "2016-08-28T07:28:18Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > And it goes back farther. [At least to here.](https://youtu.be/MYP1OBZfFK0?t=61) THANK YOU for this link! I’d heard the “Niagara Falls…Slowly I turned…” memes, but I’d never gotten a full context. I had started to think it was a joke that didn’t actually have a meaning, but was just funny for people who knew about it. (“No soap…radio!”) ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-directions-in-postings-when-did-it-start/764038/24 "2016-08-29T00:21:18Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > - 😛 (Hey, those memories are hazy, what can I say…) This got me wandering around some cobwebs as well. I remember stage directions being fairly common in the AOL Chat Rooms mid-90s once we went to monthly fees. And as those broke down and boards became more prevalent the habit carrying over to there. But which chicken or which egg came first I don’t recall. It does seem to have died away in favor of standardized “Smilies” like we have. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-directions-in-postings-when-did-it-start/764038/25 "2016-08-29T09:31:59Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > as far as I know it started in chat rooms and carried over … some of the ancient chat rooms had an action button and you could type in what you wanted it to say and it would post it as : user1 came in flopped on the couch and opened a cool beer : > > It was also used in chat room roleplaying and still is in games like world of Warcraft ect Yeah, they’re not stage directions, they’re emotes. That’s both the name for the preprogrammed ones and the command which in many chats and games will let you make up your own. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-directions-in-postings-when-did-it-start/764038/26 "2016-08-29T10:50:45Z")
_exits stage left, pursued by a bear_ ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-directions-in-postings-when-did-it-start/764038/27 "2016-08-29T11:01:27Z")
**Swampy**! Leave **Kobal2** be! ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-directions-in-postings-when-did-it-start/764038/28 "2016-08-29T11:34:37Z")
I remember them when I first started using BBSs, which would have been around 1984. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-directions-in-postings-when-did-it-start/764038.md?page=1)