Re: Correct use of :-)
gremlinn, on host 24.25.220.173
Thursday, May 22, 2003, at 15:46:21
Correct use of :-) posted by LaZorra on Thursday, May 22, 2003, at 14:25:08:
> A) RinkWorks rules. :-) > B) RinkWorks rules :-). > C) RinkWorks rules :-) >
A is the correct one. Choice B implies that RinkWorks rules the smiley. It does, but that's not the meaning that was intended. If necessary, you could put encapsulate the smiley inside the sentence with parentheses, but that looks very awkward. Choice C is wrong because a smiley isn't punctuation.
> A) RinkWorks rules! :-) > B) RinkWorks rules :-)! >
Choice A is the right one, for the same sort of reason.
> A) (Rabbitlord is PINK AND FLUFFY ;-) ) > B) (Rabbitlord is PINK AND FLUFFY ;-)) > C) (Rabbitlord is PINK AND FLUFFY ;-) >
Either A or B, I suppose, though neither is properly punctuated unless this is just given as a parenthetical expression inside a larger sentence. Choice C, while perhaps more aesthetically pleasing, is not technically correct and could cause ambiguity -- if someone invented the mouthless ";-" smiley, for example, it would be hard to distinguish which was being used. I think I prefer choice A because the extra space makes it quicker to visually parse the smiley and ending parenthesis as separate.
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