Exclamation points?
Jay
Iocaste wrote in message <19971223010...@ladder02.news.aol.com>...
>Okay, another stupid question.
>
>So I see all these posts which say things like "Naked!Mulder" and
>"Action!Scully" and whatnot. And I just have to wonder ... are people
really
>typing in exclamation points there, or is there another symbol being used
that
>makes my computer choke? Because I just don't understand why one would use
an
>exclamation point, as opposed to, say, a hyphen.
Cause a exclamation point is just so much cooler :)
Iocaste
Okay, another stupid question.
So I see all these posts which say things like "Naked!Mulder" and
"Action!Scully" and whatnot. And I just have to wonder ... are people really
typing in exclamation points there, or is there another symbol being used that
makes my computer choke? Because I just don't understand why one would use an
exclamation point, as opposed to, say, a hyphen.
Punctuationally challenged,
Autumn T
In article <19971223010...@ladder02.news.aol.com>, ioc...@aol.com
(Iocaste) writes:
>So I see all these posts which say things like "Naked!Mulder"
>and
"Action!Scully" and whatnot. And I just have to wonder ... are people
>really
typing in exclamation points there, or is there another symbol being
>used that
makes my computer choke?
Well, as a person who began spreading this particular convention via my reviews
I will say that it is an exclamation point. Why? I couldn't tell you. I thought
it was funny. Other folks seem to too as it is pretty widely used these days.
Autumn Tysko
Sister of OBSSE / "Mulder, they're worms!"
My episode reviews available at (email me for mailing list info):
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Vault/1411/main_rev.html
Ashley Flanagan
It's just an a.t.x-f standard -- I think Autumn Tysko started writing
about Action!Scully in her reviews and everyone else picked up on it and
started making their own variations (Windtunnel!Scully from the beginning
of Emily, Puppydog!Mulder from Detour . . . the possibilities are
endless.)
-
Ashley Flanagan
kits...@hotmail.com
Michael Fortunato
Iocaste wrote in message <19971223010...@ladder02.news.aol.com>...
>Okay, another stupid question.
>
>So I see all these posts which say things like "Naked!Mulder" and
>"Action!Scully" and whatnot. And I just have to wonder ... are people
really
>typing in exclamation points there, or is there another symbol being used
that
>makes my computer choke? Because I just don't understand why one would use
an
>exclamation point, as opposed to, say, a hyphen.
>
>Punctuationally challenged,
>
>
>Ann
>ioc...@aol.com
I always thought it was because it sounded like (or would sound, if it were
spoken) those horrible kids commercials for toys...
"Wow! You got a Naked!Mulder!!! With KungFu!Grip!!"
Or maybe like those announcers for monster truck commercials...
Ophelia Q...
...still too lazy to change the user on the newsreader
Christopher Cole
In article <349f9234...@newsstand.tc.umn.edu>, forb...@tc.umn.edu
(Eric) wrote:
> Uh, let's stop a bit short of defining it to be an a.t.x-f "standard",
> please. It's unquestionably popular with some here, but it's also
> regarded by many as being a cutesy device similar to the
> indiscriminant use of emoticons. It doesn't fill an unclaimed niche in
> English grammar, and as a logical symbol actually means the opposite
> of what it intends. I'm not saying people shouldn't use it- just
> please don't claim it to be a standard accepted by all here.
Yeah, it's too much fun to be a "rule."
Brother Christopher
OBSSE, who wants a Blessed Saint!Scully for Christmas...Santa, is it too late?
--
Christopher Cole
cco...@nwu.edu
Coordinator, UHM Chicago
Andrew In Amherst
Ashley Flanagan (WLU...@prodigy.com) wrote:
: It's just an a.t.x-f standard -- I think Autumn Tysko started writing
Don't believe a word of this. This and other newsgroups are being
colonized (actually, exclamation-point-ized) by alien shape-shifting
punctuation. Many of the commas in the posts here are actually
exclamation points who have morphed.
It may be true that Autumn is involved. There must be conspiritorial
human involvement in this project.
Andrew in Amherst
Visit my XF site:
http://www-vms.oit.umass.edu/~watson/xf.html
for my X-Rospective (comments on the show, including most of season 4)
fanfic, and
Musings of an OBSSEd Pro-UST NoRomo: Thoughts on the relationship
Michael P. Walsh
-----
-----
I thought exclamation points were used to denote
that the topic was of supreme importance
such as football.
Mike Walsh
Ashley Flanagan
I didn't know anyone was annoyed by it. Anyway, I just meant it's sort of
part of the ng subculture, like Moose and Squirrel jokes or MulderMaidens
and OBSSE.
-
Ashley Flanagan
kits...@hotmail.com
BelleSoCal
"Michael P. Walsh" <mp_w...@pacbell.net> wrote:
>>> I thought exclamation points were used to denote that the topic was of
supreme importance such as football. <<<
Isn't that supposed to be "FUCKING FOOTBALL"?
And, BTW, does this particular sport require anything along the lines of -- oh,
I dunno --- Wesson Oil?
Beverly!
:)
*********************************************************
"I feel *good* now ..." Mulder to Scully, "Demons"
BelleSoCal
ioc...@aol.com (Iocaste) writes:
>>So I see all these posts which say things like "Naked!Mulder" and
"Action!Scully" and whatnot. And I just have to wonder ... are people really
typing in exclamation points there, or is there another symbol being used that
makes my computer choke? <<
They're actually secret instructions. You need the decoder ring to understand
'em. Cuz sometimes they look like this "!" and other times they look like this
"!" (I know, the difference is almost imperceptible, isn't it?).
On another note, aut...@aol.com (Autumn T) answered somewhat more truthfully
and loads less smart-assily:
>>> Well, as a person who began spreading this particular convention via my
reviews I will say that it is an exclamation point. Why? I couldn't tell you. I
thought it was funny. Other folks seem to too as it is pretty widely used these
days. <<<
It's one of my Favorite!Things about the whole damn NG, frankly :)
Smartass!Beverly
Daniel Garrison
The exclamation point notation makes sense to me when they imply some sort
of a recurring state, as if a particular character possessed several
identifiable "modes." Those who are familiar with the show will probably
recognize exactly what "Action!Scully" refers to--and certainly
"Naked!Mulder" as well. To me, it's much more fun to say "Naked!Mulder"
than "Mulder, once again naked, as we have seen on other occasions."
I love this goofy convention, myself, and I guess I should thank Autumn
for perpetuating it in its early days. I still don't understand why it's
an exclamation point, though, but I like it. If I had started this whole
thing, my initial idea would have been something like "mulder.naked,"
which would have looked even more like a typo, and also wouldn't have been
as much fun.
Just don't be surprised if your friends give you strange looks when you
pass them a note referring to yourself as "Bonehead!Dan."
-Cordial!Dan
+------------------------------+ "Las Vegas, Ray, is
| Daniel Garrison, Jr. | not really a city, it's
| daniel_...@rtd.com | more a celebration of
+------------------------------+ everything evil." --Dr. Katz
Pass Ave
Eric wrote, regarding the use of exclamation points:
>It's unquestionably popular with some here, but it's also
>regarded by many as being a cutesy device similar to the
>indiscriminant use of emoticons.
Hmm. Indiscriminant use of emotions? I have NO idea what that might
be--Mulder crying inTFWID?
Regarding punctuation. Did you know that many poets, including Coleridge and
Yeats, use and abuse puctuation *willfully*? Adjectives can be used
concecutively as their own punctuation (Go read Leda and the Swan), punctuation
can be left out, misappropriated and even used to connote an opposite meaning
from the words as written.
Personally, I think the genesis for the !Scully and!Mulder usage is what has
come to be called Boyfic. Action!Scully and Action!Mulder have real meanings
*because* those meanings are understood by by the writer and the reader.What
more does communication require?
Jill
Laura Witte
In article <19971223010...@ladder02.news.aol.com>, ioc...@aol.com (Iocaste) wrote:
>Okay, another stupid question.
>
>So I see all these posts which say things like "Naked!Mulder" and
>"Action!Scully" and whatnot. And I just have to wonder ... are people really
>typing in exclamation points there, or is there another symbol being used that
>exclamation point, as opposed to, say, a hyphen.
>
>Punctuationally challenged,
>
>
>Ann
>ioc...@aol.com
Okay, I've read everyone else's attempts to explain the exclamation point, so
here's my two cents.
The exclamation point is commonly used in programming languages. Being a
computer programmer myself, I found it totally natural when "Action!Mulder"
started popping up on the newsgroup -- I assumed another programmer started
using the notation because it is becoming so prevalent in programming
languages (since we programmer types are commonly found on the internet).
If you really want to know how it works, here is how it is usually used: I
might have a table of information, a "Employees" table, for example. There
would be many fields in this table, such as employee name, social security
number, job title, etc. In many programming languages, you would reference
these fields in the "Employees" table by typing Employees!Name and
Employees!SocSecNum. It is a nice, self-documenting way to point to
information. Some older languages are so cryptic it is hard to look back at a
program you are unfamiliar with and attempt to determine what is being done --
the "new" notation makes updating much easier.
My apologies for the techno-babble. I certainly hope we don't stop using that
notation -- it makes me feel right at home!
Laura
The X-Files In-Jokes List: http://www.nashville.com/~subterfuge/xfiljoke.html
Alan M. Hurshman
Laura Witte (laura...@nashville.com) wrote:
: Okay, I've read everyone else's attempts to explain the exclamation point, so
: The exclamation point is commonly used in programming languages. Being a
: computer programmer myself, I found it totally natural when "Action!Mulder"
: started popping up on the newsgroup -- I assumed another programmer started
Also remember it is used to define message paths
as in -
Path: news.mtt.net!garnet.nbnet.nb.ca!news......
The use of ! makes even more sense when you remember
that the above usage is called "bang code".
So !=Bang
--
Alan Hurshman Topic? We ain't got no topic. We don't need no
THE SPA, X-Ville topic. I don't have to show you any stinking topics.
dull,dishwater
GABAL To Err is Human, To MOOO Bovine.
Halifax, Nova Scotia
deb...or whatever
Alan M. Hurshman wrote:
> Laura Witte (laura...@nashville.com) wrote:
> : The exclamation point is commonly used in programming languages.
> Also remember it is used to define message paths
> as in -
> Path: news.mtt.net!garnet.nbnet.nb.ca!news......
> The use of ! makes even more sense when you remember
> that the above usage is called "bang code".
> So !=Bang
So... Discipline!Skinner makes more sense than
Discipline!Skinner!. Am I getting this right?
Gee, I'd hate to screw up my bangs.
> --
> Alan Hurshman
--
deb...or whatever.
=OBSSE =SWILS =GABAL
===============================================
"Federal Bureau of Imagination. deb speaking."
===============================================
Trish Ransom
On Thu, 1 Jan 1998, deb...or whatever wrote:
> Alan M. Hurshman wrote:
>
> > Laura Witte (laura...@nashville.com) wrote:
>
> > : The exclamation point is commonly used in programming languages.
>
I always thought (though I can't speak for Autumn) that it started as
Action!Scully, which is sort of a take of off "Surfin'Barbie" or
Prom Night!Ken"
Trish (who is really just guessing, but isn't art open to our own personal
interpretations?) :-)
Alan M. Hurshman
: > The use of ! makes even more sense when you remember
: > that the above usage is called "bang code".
: So... Discipline!Skinner makes more sense than
: Discipline!Skinner!. Am I getting this right?
: Gee, I'd hate to screw up my bangs.
Yup. There is no bang after the last address.
Mary Hughes
Trish Ransom wrote:
>
> I always thought (though I can't speak for Autumn) that it started as
> Action!Scully, which is sort of a take of off "Surfin'Barbie" or
> Prom Night!Ken"
>
Yeah! Now you've hit on it! That was always my impression of the origin
of this quaint custom, but nobody else said it, not even the experts, so
I figured I was totally off base. I must learn to have more confidence
in my own opinions! <g>
--
Mary
===================================================
There are many intelligent species in the universe.
They are all owned by cats.
===================================================
BelleSoCal
"deb...or whatever" <what...@means.net> wrote:
>>> Gee, I'd hate to screw up my bangs. <<<
OTOH, it'd prolly be better'n bangin' yer screws <G>
Beverly
************************************************
"If I'm not mistaken, I think this is a clue."
Mulder to Scully, "Kitsunegari"
************************************************