> > I've been wanting to ask this for a long time. Why do words and phrases that should have been underlined, show up on the forum with * before and after? As you may have guessed, I can't spell or pronounce *. I have the same problem with &.
> > However #,@.and % are a piece of cake.
> > Howard
>
> Generally, it's just to give something emphasis. As in "I *really* like cheese". AFIK it's a product of the net and that in plain text we've got no good way to bold, italicize or underline things (well, with underlining you can always use _this_).

Actually, I've always emphasized things that way. Even before there was the internet (as it exists nowadays, anyhow) I added little *s around any text I wanted to emphasize. I dunno.