# The Letter "|\\|" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 19, 2001, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-letter/50795 "2001-01-19T02:35:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2001, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-letter/50795/21 "2001-01-20T23:45:26Z")
I once had a keyboard lose the middle. No T Y B N M and a few others. It sucked bigtime. ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2001, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-letter/50795/22 "2001-01-20T23:50:49Z")
You missed a ‘t’ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-letter/50795/23 "2001-01-21T02:33:08Z")
OF COURSE, HAVING YOUR CAPS KEY GET STUCK IS THE KEYBOARD PROBLEM MOST LIKELY TO GET YOUR FELLOW DOPERS INCREDIBLY ANNOYED AT YOU. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2001, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-letter/50795/24 "2001-01-22T03:57:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Ryan \* > \*\*OF COURSE, HAVING YOUR CAPS KEY GET STUCK IS THE KEYBOARD PROBLEM MOST LIKELY TO GET YOUR FELLOW DOPERS INCREDIBLY ANNOYED AT YOU. \*\* No, they’ll just assume that you’re using the secret encrypted computer and internet connection in your car, which doesn’t have lowercase letters. 😉 I remember when the spacebar on my keyboard was dying. That was inconvenient. Then I went and bought a new keyboard, and a week or so later got one for free. Grrr… ---
**Author:** ![Nacho4Sara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Nacho4Sara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nacho4Sara)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2001, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-letter/50795/25 "2001-01-22T04:15:38Z")
I spilled some Sprite o my old keyboard and lost the letters Q, W, E, A, S, D, Z and X. I posted twice, I thik, before I got sick of cuttig ad pastig and bought a ew keyboard. My spacebar wet haywire for a while, too, so I got used to poudig it with my thumb. Hard habit to break. Ma, you hardly oticed that the "||"s were missig i that oe! Ah fuck it. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2001, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-letter/50795/26 "2001-01-22T04:38:37Z")
I don’t USUALLY do this, but this thread is just crying out to be moved to MPSIMS. Bye bye! Lynn ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Isabella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Queen\_Isabella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Isabella)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2001, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-letter/50795/27 "2001-01-22T04:50:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* ou hink ou have i bad. i’m missing wo leers plus i can’ capaalize. one sinking drop of coke caused me all his grief. new ke board on he wa hough, hurr up dell. i akes abou 20 minues o cu and pase a small pos. no worh i. \*\* Hehe. This kid I babysat spilled a whole glass of coke on my keyboard and it’s still working fine. You people have wussy keyboards. While we’re on the topic, one of my friends spilled something on her keyboard and lost the _space bar_. She still hasn’t bothered to get a new keyboard. How she manages to put up with that is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![Meleemancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@Meleemancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meleemancer)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2001, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-letter/50795/28 "2001-01-22T08:15:39Z")
Of course, a sillier fix to your keyboard problem would be to try to use words that have just the other letters of the alphabet, so people would be oblivious that you had a problem. Geez, it’s really hard to write egatives without usig the letter ‘||’. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2001, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-letter/50795/29 "2001-01-22T16:35:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Schoir \* > > * * * It appears **Schoir** doesn’t even have a keyboard at all. I was once upset for having no shoes until I met a man who had no feet, or something like that. Ever thought of what would happen if all keys struck typed the character that is next to the right? oy epi;f trs;;u nr jstf yp trsf smu [pdyd@ ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2001, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-letter/50795/30 "2001-01-22T17:13:41Z")
> [@](#): > > **Ever thought of what would happen if all keys struck typed the character that is next to the right?** I remember reading about a young blind man who wrote letters to his mother by touch typing. One time she got a letter that looked like gibberish – until she realized that he had had his hands on the wrong row. She moved her hands down on her own typewriter accordingly, “transcribed” the letter, and read it. ---
**Author:** ![KimKatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ac91a4/32.png) [@KimKatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KimKatt)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2001, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-letter/50795/31 "2001-01-22T17:57:08Z")
LOL, **Superova.** I was quite ready for a good laugh today, which you have provided. Please accept my gratitude. Provided that you keep it short, and leave out the id’s of other posters, it is possible to compose a reply which uses letters aside from the missing letter. Muchos gracias for the idea, **Mid Gamer**. Aside from this - a few weeks ago I received a letter from my brother which had a “-” substituted for each space. Why? He too had spilled a coke. The space bar was stuck. ---
**Author:** ![SuperNova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SuperNova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNova)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2001, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-letter/50795/32 "2001-01-23T00:41:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lynn Bodoni \* > \*\*I don’t USUALLY do this, but this thread is just crying out to be moved to MPSIMS. Bye bye! > > Lynn \*\* O, come on! This is a rant. I thought I did good putting it in the pit. I thought if I put it here the mods would move it there. Anyway, as you all can see, I finally got a new keyboard. A working one. Praise the Lord! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-letter/50795.md?page=1)