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I think the smiley punctuation discussion is interesting, particularly
because
I don't like to use them, myself. (And I'm not trying to put anyone down for
using them--whatever works for you.) Personally, I feel that if what I write
needs an emoticon to defuse or explain it, then I probably haven't thought
enough about the words I used. Novels aren't full of emoticons, yet most of
us
seem to understand sarcasm and humor when we read it...Just food for thought.
Karla McMaster, technical writer
CTI-PET Systems, Inc., Knoxville, TN
mcmaster -at- cti-pet -dot- com
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But we're not getting paid to write email, so the emoticons
are a quick substitute for all the thought and effort that
goes into bringing emotions alive in a novel.
