# Stop with the "those little bracket's that seem to indicate, 'I'm sending you Karma'" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 18, 2004, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-those-little-brackets-that-seem-to-indicate-im-sending-you-karma/251029 "2004-06-18T13:20:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-those-little-brackets-that-seem-to-indicate-im-sending-you-karma/251029/1 "2004-06-18T13:20:01Z")
**Thank you Dooku. My productivity just increased many-fold** Why is it that everyone on the SDMB insists on including _those little bracket’s that seem to indicate, “I’m sending you Karma” like {{{{mittens the kitten who swallowed a razor blade}}}}_ in their posts? It’s not funny anymore, nor was it ever funny to begin with. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen multiple threads with _those little bracket’s that seem to indicate, “I’m sending you Karma” like {{{{mittens the kitten who swallowed a razor blade}}}}_ in the title. Or how many times an interesting thread about something I deem relevant gets derailed by a _those little bracket’s that seem to indicate, “I’m sending you Karma” like {{{{mittens the kitten who swallowed a razor blade}}}}_ post, which inevitably leads to a bunch of _those little bracket’s that seem to indicate, “I’m sending you Karma” like {{{{mittens the kitten who swallowed a razor blade}}}}_ posts in the replies. Why does everyone insist on doing this? Can we just stop it please? Yes, I know I don’t have to open those _those little bracket’s that seem to indicate, “I’m sending you Karma” like {{{{mittens the kitten who swallowed a razor blade}}}}_ threads and I can just ignore those _those little bracket’s that seem to indicate, “I’m sending you Karma” like {{{{mittens the kitten who swallowed a razor blade}}}}_ posts, but instead of behaving rationally and doing exactly that I’d rather bring this _those little bracket’s that seem to indicate, “I’m sending you Karma” like {{{{mittens the kitten who swallowed a razor blade}}}}_ to everyone’s attention by starting a thread about it, ignoring the irony of same. Oh, and ha ha to everyone who replies with _those little bracket’s that seem to indicate, “I’m sending you Karma” like {{{{mittens the kitten who swallowed a razor blade}}}}_ in their posts.\* ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-those-little-brackets-that-seem-to-indicate-im-sending-you-karma/251029/2 "2004-06-18T13:25:23Z")
They’re hugs. Been around for at least a decade. Get used to 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-those-little-brackets-that-seem-to-indicate-im-sending-you-karma/251029/3 "2004-06-18T13:26:24Z")
That template worked pretty well, didn’t it? Might have to try it myself. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-those-little-brackets-that-seem-to-indicate-im-sending-you-karma/251029/4 "2004-06-18T13:26:29Z")
An apostrophe followed by an s generally indicates possession, except in the case of “its”, where an apostrophe would indicate the contraction “it is”. There’s more to it than that, but if you follow that simple guideline you won’t write a post that is so disturbingly annoying to read. Nowhere in your post, not once, did you use the appropriate form of “brackets”, not even in the title. They do not possess anything. {{{people who don’t have any clue about the difference between plurals and possessives}}} ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-those-little-brackets-that-seem-to-indicate-im-sending-you-karma/251029/5 "2004-06-18T13:27:32Z")
_Sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays._ Do you need a hug, **Trunk**? ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-those-little-brackets-that-seem-to-indicate-im-sending-you-karma/251029/6 "2004-06-18T13:28:56Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > They’re hugs. Been around for at least a decade. Get used to 'em. WHOOOOOOOOOSH!!! ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-those-little-brackets-that-seem-to-indicate-im-sending-you-karma/251029/7 "2004-06-18T13:30:32Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > Nowhere in your post, not once, did you use the appropriate form of “brackets”, not even in the title. Major drawback of templates, huh? > [@Airman Doors](#): > > They do not possess anything. They possess the thing I’m hugging. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-those-little-brackets-that-seem-to-indicate-im-sending-you-karma/251029/8 "2004-06-18T13:38:46Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Major drawback of templates, huh? So, this is a parody? Or is it a joke? Whatever it is, you can’t expect me to know that it’s a template with out a link to something that would indicate that. > [@](#): > > They possess the thing I’m hugging. That is not correct. Brackets do not possess anything, they contain things, or they hold things, but they do not possess anything. That would indicate that brackets are animate objects capable of possession, and unless that is a last name (which would mean that you still used it incorrectly), “brackets” is the correct usage. Incidentally, even if it is a template, there’s nothing that says that you can’t make corrections to make it more readable, which has the added effect of making you appear to be more learned. {{{hugs for people who don’t know the difference between possessives, contractions, and plurals and are unable or unwilling to take the lesson gracefully without making some sort of justification as to why their English usage was flawed throughout their post}}} ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-those-little-brackets-that-seem-to-indicate-im-sending-you-karma/251029/9 "2004-06-18T13:44:52Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > So, this is a parody? Or is it a joke? Whatever it is, you can’t expect me to know that it’s a template with out a link to something that would indicate that. **Airman** , it\*\*’\*\*s [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=262175). ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-those-little-brackets-that-seem-to-indicate-im-sending-you-karma/251029/10 "2004-06-18T13:48:07Z")
Ah. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-those-little-brackets-that-seem-to-indicate-im-sending-you-karma/251029/11 "2004-06-18T14:27:58Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > WHOOOOOOOOOSH!!! So what you’re saying is, this was a joke thread? ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-those-little-brackets-that-seem-to-indicate-im-sending-you-karma/251029/12 "2004-06-18T14:49:48Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > So what you’re saying is, this was a joke thread? oh jesus. Someone could come in here and pit nuns for feeding starving puppies and people would go, “how can you pit nuns for feeding starving puppies?” “uh. it was a joke.” “But. . .but. . .but, there’s a RULE. A RUUUULE.” ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-those-little-brackets-that-seem-to-indicate-im-sending-you-karma/251029/13 "2004-06-18T15:17:07Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > oh jesus. > > Someone could come in here and pit nuns for feeding starving puppies and people would go, “how can you pit nuns for feeding starving puppies?” > > “uh. it was a joke.” > > “But. . .but. . .but, there’s a RULE. A RUUUULE.” Well, you’re just joking now, too :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-those-little-brackets-that-seem-to-indicate-im-sending-you-karma/251029/14 "2004-06-18T15:31:39Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Well, you’re just joking now, too :rolleyes: Seriously? Or are you joking? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-those-little-brackets-that-seem-to-indicate-im-sending-you-karma/251029/15 "2004-06-18T16:06:30Z")
I’m so confused. All I know is I’m sick of nuns feeding puppies. {{{dead puppies}}} ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-those-little-brackets-that-seem-to-indicate-im-sending-you-karma/251029/16 "2004-06-18T16:18:10Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > That is not correct. Brackets do not possess anything, they contain things, or they hold things, but they do not possess anything. That would indicate that brackets are animate objects capable of possession, and unless that is a last name (which would mean that you still used it incorrectly), “brackets” is the correct usage. Nitpick: I know what you’re saying, but just for clarification, brackets certainly can possess things (in the sense of using a posessive apostrophe) as in _the brackets’ content_ or _the bracket’s ASCII code_, but the ‘s’ in the title isn’t representing possetion (or rather, shouldn’t be :)). Also: thanks for the hugs to people who get apostrophes wrong. I needed them. Also: Trunk, yeah, what’s with this thread? If it’s really against people who uses hugging brackets, you wouldn’t have said ‘whoosh’. If it’s a pit against people who post rants against cutesy but harmless things, then it should be in the template thread. If it’s a rant against the other thread, ditto. If it’s not a rant, it should be in MPSIMS… Is it a rant against people who pit people who have fairly harmless habits? I’m getting confused 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-those-little-brackets-that-seem-to-indicate-im-sending-you-karma/251029/17 "2004-06-18T16:23:33Z")
> [@Shade](#): > > Nitpick: I know what you’re saying, but just for clarification, brackets certainly can possess things (in the sense of using a posessive apostrophe) as in _the brackets’ content_ or _the bracket’s ASCII code_, but the ‘s’ in the title isn’t representing possetion (or rather, shouldn’t be :)). > > Also: thanks for the hugs to people who get apostrophes wrong. I needed them. > > Also: Trunk, yeah, what’s with this thread? If it’s really against people who uses hugging brackets, you wouldn’t have said ‘whoosh’. If it’s a pit against people who post rants against cutesy but harmless things, then it should be in the template thread. If it’s a rant against the other thread, ditto. If it’s not a rant, it should be in MPSIMS… Is it a rant against people who pit people who have fairly harmless habits? I’m getting confused 😕 It was a joke because I wanted to be the first to use the template that Dooku made. It required some understanding of other threads currently in the pit, which I thought the SD crew would grok. It wouldn’t have played in MPIMS. . .not that it “tested well” here, either. I just picked the {{{hugs}}} as a random something to fill in the template. I don’t care about {{{hugs}}} anymore than I care about people chiming in with “I can’t beleive nobody has mentioned. . .” Well, maybe they irritate me a little. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-those-little-brackets-that-seem-to-indicate-im-sending-you-karma/251029/18 "2004-06-18T16:26:33Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > That is not correct. Brackets do not possess anything, Maybe they’re ghost brackets. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-those-little-brackets-that-seem-to-indicate-im-sending-you-karma/251029/19 "2004-06-18T16:41:35Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Maybe they’re ghost brackets. And as we know, ghost bracket’s are 9/10ths of the law. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-those-little-brackets-that-seem-to-indicate-im-sending-you-karma/251029/20 "2004-06-18T16:50:38Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > oh jesus. > > Someone could come in here and pit nuns for feeding starving puppies and people would go, “how can you pit nuns for feeding starving puppies?” > > “uh. it was a joke.” > > “But. . .but. . .but, there’s a RULE. A RUUUULE.” Not just any ol’ rule. **Lynn** really _hates_ to see joke threads in the Pit and tends to suspend those who start such threads. Guess we’ll see you in about a week. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-those-little-brackets-that-seem-to-indicate-im-sending-you-karma/251029.md?page=2)