I see a few posts using what I’ll call “double colon symbology” to set off some sort of parenthetical phrase.
Made up example:
:: foolishly looks at watch ::
What are the double colons before and after the phrase supposed to indicate? What kinds of phrases are the colons supposed to surround?
.
It’s just used to indicate an action instead of a comment. There is no specific rule, and other characters can be used, depending on the preference of the user.
<clicks on the Submit button>
:: runs naked through thread ::
:: ducks and runs::
/me posts a different way to show action
Uses asterisks in places of double-colons
Am I right in saying that if we were in an IIRC chat space, what Poly just typed would be rendered:
Polycarp posts a different way to show action
?
The early interactive BB’s that allowed “actions” and their successors the chat rooms – did they use the double-colon convention?
I picked up the double-colon convention for marking actions here. Before, if I used anything, I used pseudo-HTML, like this:
<rant>
I can’t believe how those idiots have thrown away the NHL!! Someone oughta give the Stanley Cup to some other league this year!!
</rant>
But that’s not as useful for indicating single actions. I’ll still use it for marking a piece of text though.
Asterisks, on the other hand, are good for inline emphasis. I believe some early mailer software would actually render asterisked words in bold for the recipient. Likewise, I usually use underbars like this to indicate underlining.
I am not consistent in these usages.
The ones I saw used a slash or backslash as a marker for a command. This was a common command convention in operating systems (e.g. JCL or Job Control Language) going back to the days of punched cards.
the use of :: and other “invented” punctiations wasn’t much of an imaginative leap. I used it as a kid in the 70s (I wrote a lot of letters, and had a near fatal case of parenthitis – from which, as you can see, I never fully recovered). I’d been doing it for years by the time Piers Anthony used composite/invented punctuation marks as quotes (in fact “::”, which he called quadpoint, was among them) to distinguish the speech of various species in his “Kirlian Quest” series (starring Herald the Healer) back in 1979. I’m sure neither he nor I was the first.
Duh…I finally figured out what ::d&r:: means! :smack:
I was a member of a text only (Pre HTML) chat board, and they used a software written by the owner, which replaced a leading “/me” with the particular users name, and changed the color of the text, to indicate “actions” They also had /whisper, and /look and a whole range of specific commands (which had their own consequences)
An older board I briefly belonged to, (and evidently many others) had the double colon convention to separate action from statements, in the readers eyes. I don’t know if any of had replacement software to make it look different, but mine didn’t.
Tris
/me:then there are some of us that get them all mixed up*)
Everquest (a VERY fancy chat client) used backslashes as emotes. Hence, “/ducks” would be rendered as “Turek ducks” to everyone within range of me and if there was a graphical representation, my little Turek (on the screen, you filthy minded filthy-minded-people!) would duck.
:: is the scope resolution operator
What was the question again?
I laughed way to hard at this. I need to go get a life.
Remember to always use the spaces, because otherwise you end up screwing up and inserting smileys.
::places no spaces between the colon and the sentence::
See what I mean?
Meanwhile, I reserve asterisks for marking off sound effects.
sneeze
::gesundheit::
//me outta here//
On many MUDs, a single colon is the emote command…
:dances around and breaks dishes.
Would show up as:
Mr2001 dances around and breaks dishes.
Yes. Most IRC clients put an asterisk in front:
Nitpick: That’s a regular slash (or forward slash). \ is backslash.