Failed punctuation

[Bruce Appelbaum]

     My wife is a nurse, with her own set of shorthand and jargon.  Fer 
     instance, a lower case "c" with a horizontal line over it means 
     "with".  She also uses strange abbreviations for the time of day (3:5 
     is really 3:50, I think -- it's not 3:05).  
     
     She also has an entirely new vocabulary to describe patients 
     (particularly emergency room patients) so they don't know they're 
     being talked about, but that's a whole other story.


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: RE: Failed punctuation
Author:  Stephen Roe <roe at scsolutions.com> at Internet
Date:    6/4/97 9:29 AM


     
     
On Wednesday, June 04, 1997 08:17, LARSSON at VAX1.Mankato.MSUS.EDU 
[SMTP:LARSSON at VAX1.Mankato.MSUS.EDU] wrote:
> 
> Paul De Filippo notes:
> "I always hoped the "interrobang" would catch on, a fusion 
> of exclamation point and question mark.  Also, consider the 
> Tibetan "terma", three dots arranged in a mini-pyramid,
> signalling that text preceding is holy.  Should TRP use this!?" 
> 
> 
> That three-dot triangle is also a mathematical symbol whose use escapes 
> my decaffeinated brain just now.
> 
> Don Larsson, Mankato State U (MN)
     
In mathematics three dots arrange as a pyramid stand for therefore. 
Also the inverse, three dots in a triangle pointing down means
because.  If you want to see lots of arcane punctuation marks just pick 
up any mathematics or engineering text.  In more advanced texts
the symbols become more obscure and plentiful.  A favorite of mine 
is "such that" a kind of backwards letter e with the top loop open.
     
Steve Roe