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Friday, June 1, 2012

Nerd Note: The End of the Punctuation/Emoticon Debate

Well, I don't know how widespread this punctuation controversy has spread, but it's happened inside my head. And this blog provides useful advice.

The problem, as spelled out and punctuated in the blog:

I love it when it rains! ;)
or
I love it when it rains ;)
Note the exclamation point in the first example.

After a brief discussion, blogger Kenna Griffin offers this "new rule":
When using an emoticon, you should use regular punctuation, followed by a space and the emoticon.
And that means she prefers the first example above. In other words, treat a sentence separately from the emoticon that follows. Don't treat the emoticon as the concluding punctuation mark for a sentence. Makes sense to me!

Of course, in serious writing, emoticons do not exist.

1 comment:

  1. Gary,

    Thanks for including my post and "rule" on your site. I appreciate your support. I agree that emoticons don't exist in "serious writing," but they are a big part of much of our informal writing. It seemed necessary to have some level of understanding or agreement on how to use them correctly.

    Have a great day!

    Kenna

    ReplyDelete

Please comment on my blog post--or ask me a question about writing!.

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