Endangered Species of the Puzzlebox

Variety is paramount in an ecosystem like the Puzzlebox, and it is troubling to find that, through excessive exploitation, several species of expressive forms have become endangered, and possibly in danger of extinction. These include, but are not limited to:

• Exclamation points! Far too many of these are used for emphasis! Or just for no reason at all! Please use a [thesaurus] for help in expressing surprise, shock, and other feelings, and don't abuse this simple end-mark!

• Ellipses... especially when used at the ends of sentences... or in the middles of them... for no particular reason... make you seem vague... and indecisive... like you can't figure out... what punctuation mark goes where... and unless you're intending... to sound like Harlowe P. Whitcomb... it gets... really... nerve-wracking... after... a while...
  • Even worse.. there's the two-period pseudo-ellipsis.. It makes you look like you can't decide whether to use a real ellipsis.. or a period.. or like you have clumsy fingers.. or that your keyboard is on the fritz and you need a new one..

• Emoticons. All over the Puzzlebox these simple (if marginally expressive) creatures are being horribly exploited. Emoticons come in all shapes and sizes, but the following are especially in danger of being worked to death:
  • :>
  • :] (and variations)
  • ^_^ (and variations)
  • n.n (and variations, including n..n and variations)
  • ;;p (and related cup sizes)

• And last but certainly not least, the word "The_".

Please do what you can to help reduce the exploitation of these dangerously overworked forms of expression. Think about it, won't you? Thank you.

- A message from Talib Litston, MD, AD, DDS, FLD, FFF, and F, and Televisionaries Working Against Typos

It was at that moment that, in flagrant disregard for the local typosphere, OR resolved to use a lot more emoticons, ellipses, and exclamation points in *er work. *e meant no malice, but was simply acting in the fashion of a favorite author, who had been advised by a peevish writing professor to never, ever use a parenthesis in the first sentence of a work... so she make a point of doing so in each and every novel, just to be a contrarian! Might *e even stoop to the occasional [interrobang], if such a loathsome species exists on *er browser‽ (Apparently not. :) )

The ghostplayer says: I heartily endorse this product and/or service.

The docplayer says: Of course, by being contrarian in the manner of someone else, you're being a follower. Of course, if you took the advice here, you'd be a follower anyway. Sometimes you just can't win...

OR looks panicky and shakes a tangent at Talib, clearly desperate. "I AM ABOVE THE LAW!" *grin*