[lit-ideas] Re: NYT in the news again
- From: "Mike Geary" <atlas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 26 Oct 2005 17:16:05 -0500
Eric Yost:
And I apologize to Phil for my nasty reply. Right now, I'm the one without
a sense of humor. It's tough being Hitler.
Now that it's settled that Eric is not only a fascist but a Nazi to boot, I
think it's time to reflect on emoticons. I'd taken a sacred oath never ever
to use them, but alas, I sometimes find myself slipping one in just in case
the typing doesn't sound sardonic. Marlena's use of verbal emoticons "<wry
smile>" are an alternative, but still, it seems to me, inappropriate -- if
not antithetical -- to the soul of humor. A large part of the pleasure of
humor is the recognition that it's a joke -- a pleasure akin to having a
secret decoder ring that clues you in -- "Hey, I know what's going on. Hey!
I must be special!" But if everyone knows the code -- given away by an
emoticon -- then where is the sense of superiority? And yet I remember the
time on Phil-Lit that William Ball climbed all over me for insulting Alison
Parker by calling her a "stupid, ignorant slut." I was sure everyone would
recognize the allusion to the Saturday Night Live skit. But no. Later I
thought maybe I should have given some clue that I wasn't dissing Alison.
Had William Ball not written to the list excoriating me for my crudeness,
rudeness and downright cadness, he might believe to this day that I'm a
shithead. Well, of course, he might indeed think that, but at least it's
not because he thought I insulted Alison.
How do others handle sarcasm and irony in written messages generally --
emoticons or take your chances?
Mike Geary
P.S. I misread Phil, too. I was very surprised, and wondered where that
bad blood had arisen from. So Eric wasn't alone in misinterpreting. I'm
just so used to Phil being straightforward, it never occurred to me that he
might be teasing.
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