Friday, March 5, 2010

The SarcMark: For the dryly misunderstood

IN THE NEWS:Mass. newlywed couple spend 1st night in jail. Read more HERE.

I actually meant to talk about this weeks ago when I had first read the article of about this new punctuation mark.

Yes, there is a new punctuation mark used exclusively to indicate... sarcasm. :)

The symbol – a dot inside a single spiral line – (seen left) can be installed onto any PC running Windows 7, XP or Vista, as well as Macs and Blackberry mobile devices.
It can then be used in Word documents, instant messenger conversations, Outlook email and other programmes, just by pressing Ctrl and the full stop button.

It costs about $2 to download and is designed to be used like an exclamation point or question mark.

According to this article:

"Anyone concerned that the irony of their email or text message might not be appreciated by its recipient can use the symbol to close their sentence, thereby avoiding awkward misunderstandings."

Huh. Well, all I can say about this is...

YES!!!!!


FINALLY!!!!

Oh. Ooops. Sorry. Maybe you all aren't as sarcastic as I am in your e-mails or texts. But it does my heart good to know that my written dry wit won't be lost on people anymore. (Until I actually use this thing and people look at it and go, "Huh?")


But truthfully, I think it's a pretty neat little thing to have. Because if you're like me, you're constantly putting in parentheses "PS. That was sarcasm" in your e-mails. :) So I'm really thinking about downloading it.


What do you think?

Clever idea or waste of two bucks?

31 comments:

Sherry Dale Rogers said...

Cool, cool, cool...but no one will ever know what that thing is, actualy it looks like a mark you would use to substitute foul lang. I don't know...

Janna Leadbetter said...

Very interesting! I don't think I'd download it, but I can see how it would provide useful, for sure.

Happy weekend, Jennifer!

Chicki Brown said...

That's a different idea, but I wouldn't pay $2.00 for it ...

OpenSarcasm said...

Sarcasm must be free! Punctuate your sarcasm with the free, open-source punctuation mark: ¡

More info here: http://opensarcasm.org

Karen Lange said...

Hey, thanks for letting us know about this! I'd not heard of it till now. This will come in handy. I'm with you; I don't want people to misunderstand things. Have a great weekend!
Blessings,
Karen :)

Wendy Paine Miller said...

I like how it looks. But it cracks me up.

Sarcasm help for dummies. ;)

I just always make those silly little faces. I'm used to people not getting me.

Have a great weekend and hope I can meet you in person someday.
~ Wendy

Anonymous said...

I'll probably forget what the symbol means and wonder why people are sending me abbreviated swear words..... :O)

Jennifer Shirk said...

LOL!

I think it'll catch on. But then again, there are still people who don't understand "LOL". :)

Tamika: said...

I already have so many symbols I need to learn! I'm so behind.

Joanne said...

Waste of two bucks! I can think of another symbol that somebody's making off of this: $$$

Jennifer Shirk said...

Joanne: You made me laugh!

Debora said...

You mean people might misconstue my emails and texts? Who knew!

It is cool idea.

Kayeleen Hamblin said...

That's crazy! I guess everything evolves, right? This would be useful for me. I constantly have to censor what I write in comments, texts, and emails. Emoticons and tone of voice don't coexist well for me. Thanks for sharing!

Laura Pauling said...

Now you'll just have to put in paranthesis - this mark indicates sarcasm. :)

Tess said...

I agree with (and laughed at) distrella's comments. I can imagine myself saying "what the (insert symbol here) is she sending that symbol for. is she mad at me?"

and... I just use the wink ;)

it works for the most part

patti said...

You ALWAYS enlighten...and make me laugh, which isn't easy!

Think I will pass!!!
Think my words stir up enough "issues"!

Blessings and have a great weekend!!

Kara said...

I need it! Now my husband can quit reading over my shoulder saying "Um, I'm not sure they'll read the sarcasm in that." Thank you for sharing:)

Maria Zannini said...

Well, if you hadn't told me what it was, I would have never known.

I'll have to settle for hoping people know sarcasm when they see it.

Dawn Simon said...

How funny--I've never seen it before. See why I need to come to your blog?! It's educational. And fun. True edutainment.

What do I think of it? I wonder, as you said, what recipients will think. But maybe it will catch on like emoticons.

Sarah Forgrave said...

lol...I can see the usefulness. Written communication can be misunderstood so easily, so why not make sure people don't misread, right? :-)

Shannon O'Donnell said...

Very cool! I love it! :-)

Kristen Torres-Toro said...

Completely wonderful!

JeMA said...

There is a part of me that wants to say, "If they don't get it the first time around, their loss"! I was also thinking on the other hand how we could make up other signs...like when my husband asks me a question and I answer "Fine", yet I don't really mean it! Maybe a "fine" symbol?!

Walt Mussell said...

I need something like this that I an use while talking. No one understands when I'm being sarcastic. (Granted, it could be my delivery.)

Kayeleen Hamblin said...

Hey. I wanted to pass on an award to you. It's on my blog.

Tiffany Neal said...

Strange that they are charging people for it, don't you think?? Hmmm...

Jessica Nelson said...

Too funny! And they're actually making money off it? LOL

Lesley Speller said...

It's a brilliant idea. It should be free though if they want people to embrace and adopt it. Maybe we could start a movement using one of the standard symbols. hehe

Tyrean Martinson said...

Hi! I just wanted to say that I enjoy your blog, and I'm giving you the Honest Scrap Award.

Nishant said...

Very interesting! I don't think I'd download it, but I can see how it would provide useful, for sure.
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