Some Times I Crack Myself Up!

Hey, I just thought of something new!

Remember back in the old-fashioned old days when we always delineated paragraphs with a Tab?

I don't remember when, whether I was still banging away on a typewriter, or maybe had gotten into the early electronic/computer days...also whether I was working on a "normal" writing style, or maybe was delving into say essay writing or even technical writing, I just don't remember them things...

At any rate, at some point I adopted the "style" when writing of breaking up my thoughts, not with a Tab for a new paragraph, but an empty line, and no Tab! I don't even remember when the last time could have conceivably been that I may have used a Tab to signal a new paragraph!

And then, thinking of this I realized that I had found out the "hard" way that with our computers pushing the Tab key could have unplanned consequences, and definitely not be about starting a new paragraph!

Well, I just now hit the Dang Tab key and it jumped me right down to the "Post Quick Reply" button. Had I inadvertently also hit the Enter key, I wouldn't have started a new line, I would have posted this dang note before I was finished!

Hah!

I, too, use block paragraphs (that's really what they're called). Studies have shown that they're easier to read, as well as being the style most preferred by the U.S. government in formal and legal writing.

The trouble with indented paragraphs is that virtually everyone indents too much. Proper formal English (in the U.S.) calls for a paragraph indent of one em when using a proportional typeface. Alas, most people don't know what an em is, much less when to use it. Better by far to use block paragraphs.

It's like hyphens, minus signs, en dashes, and em dashes. A hyphen should never be used as a minus sign, "-2". A minus sign should be used instead, "–2". Similarly, numbers expressing a range of values should never be separated by a hyphen, "4-6", but by an en dash, "4–6". And two hyphens, "--", are never a substitute for an em dash, "—". That was allowed only as a poor substitute with monospaced typewriters because there was no choice.

Alas, schools no longer teach such things. Hell, most of them no longer teach cursive, much less correct formal punctuation. I've met many a modern high-school graduate who doesn't even have a signature!

I'd say the world is going to hell in a handbasket except that none of the younger generation knows what a handbasket is.

20droger wrote in post #16981418
And two hyphens, "--", are never a substitute for an em dash, "—". That was allowed only as a poor substitute with monospaced typewriters because there was no choice.

I've kept my two-hyphen habit. That was the correct way to make an em dash then: two hyphens, no space. Must I go to a special character for a dash to retain the esteem of punctuation connoisseurs? It's more trouble, and the dashes created that way don't look long enough.

Dashes have largely faded from use anyway--not my use, but most others'--as have colons and semicolons. I don't know why. They serve important functions in communicating the relations between ideas.

I did quickly get used to spacing just once after a period. Some old typists still space twice.

OK, Roger, I'm not sure how to do all that with a keyboard...

I'm just in the habit of using the "minus sign" -- as you can see, twice for an "em dash" because, well, I've never gone to the trouble of finding out another way, and then once for a normal hyphen or for just a minus sign.

But, yeah, I guess we have to figure out the "character" things and come up with shortcuts?

I found the recent thread on "Cliché pictures" a bit humorous because we don't have an American key for the "é ", so people just type "cliche", the same as we do for "resumé" and such, I've just never worked out an American alternative aside from digging out shortcuts, but I'm lazy!

OhLook wrote in post #16981469
I've kept my two-hyphen habit. That was the correct way to make an em dash then: two hyphens, no space. Must I go to a special character for a dash to retain the esteem of punctuation connoisseurs? It's more trouble, and the dashes created that way don't look long enough.

Dashes have largely faded from use anyway--not my use, but most others'--as have colons and semicolons. I don't know why. They serve important functions in communicating the relations between ideas.

I did quickly get used to spacing just once after a period. Some old typists still space twice.

If you use Word, you can set it to automatically convert two hyphens into an em dash.

Also in Word, ctrl + numpad-minus will give you an en dash or true minus sign, and ctrl + alt + numpad-minus will give you a true em dash.

Word is full of special characters. For example, my first name is René, with an acute accent on the final "e". You can get the accented "é" by typing ctrl + apostrophe followed by "e". Many of the accented characters of other Latin-alphabet languages are formed this way; in the word "señor," the "ñ" can be made with ctrl + ~ followed by "n".

After a bit, it all becomes automatic and natural.

As Volkswagen used to say when people complained that the (original) bug only came with a manual transmission, "Drive it for six months and it becomes automatic."

As for the fading out of colons and semicolons, and other lesser-used punctuations, what do you expect of schools that don't even teach cursive?

Oh where, oh where has my ampersand gone?
Oh where, oh where can it be?
It once was there in my alphabet list
Tucked in right after zee.

The é is easy for most countries, since there is a ´ character that is "dead" and waits for another character key to be pressed to allow the two to be merged. So easy to write àáìíèé etc even without dedicated keys.

20droger wrote in post #16981552
If you use Word, you can set it to automatically convert two hyphens into an em dash.

I don't use Word, but thanks for the thought.

Now I don't know what to call you. Perhaps Rogér?

pwm2 wrote in post #16981568
The é is easy for most countries, since there is a ´ character that is "dead" and waits for another character key to be pressed to allow the two to be merged. So easy to write àáìíèé etc even without dedicated keys.

Alas, computers in the U.S. do not come with international keyboards.

Most other countries are metric, too. We, however, insist on marching to our own drummer, even though it causes us to trip over our own feet.

The U.S.A., Liberia, and Myanmar, the only non-metric countries in the entire world. What a club! Makes me so proud.

Well, things got really screwy!

I haven't been using Word, so I was just messing around with Ctl and things, I didn't get an "em", but I succeeded in shrinking/zooming down my whole dang display, and doing a Ctl+, well, just about anything can do crazy things! Oh Well, I'll just go back to mis-using the minus sign! I also found no way for getting the accent. I know I can get a "character" I just don't even remember how! And then, to translate that into quick typing/keyboarding...h​mm.

Just don't key in the autodestruct sequence....

20droger wrote in post #16981608
Just don't key in the autodestruct sequence....

Isn't that the login to a Windows machine? From there on, it can only get worse.

Well, using the Windows "Character Map", I got an "em dash" — but I don't know of any shortcut for that and the other special characters, so I probably won't bother unless I really want one!

Heh! It's funny — back in the "old days" before we got all the fancy technology, a Reboot (for DOS machines a Ctl-Alt-Del) was "magic" — if anything went wrong with one of our DOS machines, Reboot!

It was entertaining when out on the factory floor, having gotten a call about problems, and after a few brief bits things were up working again and people thought you were a "wonder-worker"!

And there I went, using the minus sign instead of digging out a hyphen!

tonylong wrote in post #16981632
Well, using the Windows "Character Map", I got an "em dash" — but I don't know of any shortcut for that and the other special characters, so I probably won't bother unless I really want one!

If you highlight the character in Character Map, the direct key short-cut (if there is one) shows up in the lower right corner of the app — Alt-0151 (using the numeric keypad) for an Em dash.

Jon wrote in post #16981680
If you highlight the character in Character Map, the direct key short-cut (if there is one) shows up in the lower right corner of the app — Alt-0151 (using the numeric keypad) for an Em dash.

Right, now I just have to memorize my "most-often used" ones! The hyphen and the em-dash I suppose would be two to remember...although typing "Alt 0151" for — instead of just typing "--", well...!