What are your writing quirks?

Been thinking about making this thread for a while, inspired in part by discussions of people's writing (like in the "I know you are but what am I" thread) and Tumblrese dialects.

What are the quirks and tells in the way you write? What makes you sound like you on the interwebs? If you sent an anon message, what could tip people off that it was you? How would your typing style get described on the MSPA wiki if you were a Homestuck character?

Some of mine:

• Triple emoticons and repeating letters by multiples of 3. This one is deliberate- it started as a Homestuck-inspired thing to mislead people about my identity and stuck around because I find the rule/ritual weirdly comforting.
  • :::PPP used as a general indicator of irony/snark. Exact usage often varies with the default font of the platform; it's a bit more sardonic on Tumblr than here because it looks smile-ier in a serif font.
    
  • In chat, "Pfff" as an expression of amusement. Often gains another three Fs if I think something is really entertaining.
• Mostly standard spelling and grammar. This is the main thing I vary when I don't want to sound like me when sending an anon message.
• Swooping in to stealth-edit spelling and grammar mistakes I notice or add things that occur to me just after I press the post button.
  
• Qualifying filler phrases that indicate uncertainty ("I think...", "I feel like...", "it seems to me...") or imprecision ("sort of," "tends to," "a bit").
  
• Adverbs. "Usually," "particularly," "probably," "especially," "generally," "occasionally," "specifically,"... I sometimes have to remove two or three extra uses of "just" from one paragraph.
  
• Things that connect thoughts. I use dashes, semicolons, and the word "also" a lot. I usually have to break up a bunch of sentences when I revise things.
• So many asides in parentheses. I once got in trouble in elementary school English class for putting parentheses in dialogue.
• Italicizing for emphasis, often to the point of overuse. I generally use /slashes/ in chat that doesn't have text formatting.

...And probably some more I haven't noticed.

The main way my typing varies based on mood are:

• Dropping capitalization when I'm saying something I'm intending particularly non-seriously.
• Replacing commas with periods to indicate when I'm having trouble phrasing things, particularly combined with "like" as a filler word.
  
• Splitting sentences up onto multiple lines. Can mean a number of different things, but I think the main linguistic effect is to draw more attention to and separate the different parts of it, or sometimes to get parts of it out faster so people know I'm trying to get something into the conversation when I'm still in the process of typing.

So, what are some telltale things you notice about your, or other people's, writing?
@chaoticArbiter

 

My typing style varies a lot based on where I'm posting, and also just in general? But here are some tendencies I have:

• Lots of exclamation points!!
• I tend to capitalize words or phrases for emphasis: e.g. "this is a Big Deal you guys."
• Overuse of the word "like," but that's also something I do IRL. :P Also, overuse of ellipses.
  
• The use of question marks at the end of a sentence that isn't a question, but could potentially be spoken with a rising inflection like it actually was a question. e.g. "I think we were supposed to call at noon?"

And as for how it varies, well...

• On Tumblr, I tend to type in a very loose, casual way--often without capitalization or much punctuation, and with a lot of abbreviations. ("omg this shirt is rly cool u guys!!!!")
• On Kintsugi, I tend to type in a fairly standard and grammatically correct manner, though sometimes with added all-caps stuff for emphasis. ("Oh my God, this shirt is REALLY cool, you guys!!")
• On Facebook it varies, but I tend to land somewhat in the middle there. ("oh my god this shirt is really cool you guys")
• It varies WILDLY on Skype and other IM services, often within the same conversation. Anyone who has chatted with me can vouch for this. :P

 

i always always type in lowercase for conversational tone because my ex would type in sentence case when he was upset with something (often me) and so did ray. it sets my alarm bells off like nobody's business.

-never use just one exclamation point, it's always two or more. if i'm using them to express genuine excitement about something as opposed to comically overexaggerated excitement/rage, i put a space between them and the last word of the sentence.

-ngl i picked up 'aint' from cronus roleplaying and 'yall' from tumblr. im a fake country boy

-periods are sometimes used to separate sentences from each other but not to end them. see above.

-Bad Mood Typing varies on specific bad mood. passive bad mood (casual self hate, generic distress) is all lowercase and no punctuation. active bad mood (anxiety storm, pissiness) is a lot more energetic and is still lowercase but might include caps and exclamation marks. if i'm rambling into the void or to someone i'm very close to there's often crytyping but i take the time to remove it if i'm talking to someone unfamiliar.

-i'm pretty damn good at generating shitpostesque absurdist humor but it gets stale very quickly so i have to judge when the appropriate moment for it is.

-hell [x]. it evolved from 'hell website' referring to tumblr and applies to anything mildly distressing or annoying. cronus is a Hell Man. i have a Hell Brain.

-doubling letters to subtly express that i'm dragging out the word.
example:

Sent on:
Mon
ffffffuck i missed a volunteering thing and they emailed me about it and its been five days and i ddont know what the fuck to tell them
Sent on:
Mon
i love davepeta sso much

 

Hmmmmm......

• I tend to drop "I" (and sometimes other pronouns, but mostly "I") at the beginning of sentences.
• I replace "got to" and "going to" with gotta and gonna (generally).
  
• Usually my grammar's pretty standard, might use too many semicolons (although I do often extend ellipses, and add more periods for effect or to indicate a long pause or deep thought or whatever).
• EXCESSIVE PARENTHETICAL ASIDES ALL THE TIME (you can see examples right here in this post!)
• Emphasize important things in all caps.
  
• For lists of things, I'll often use slashes and etc.: x/y/z/etc.
• Or indicate them in this way: "x or y or z or whatever."
• I sometimes capitalize things for effect.
  
• When indicating action with asterisks, I put a space between the asterisks and the words, * like so *. (This was apparently very strange to some people, and made me stand out in RO chat.)
• I generally add more exclamation points when I'm upset.
• Usually use a lowercase b for sticking-out-tongue emoticon. :b
• Rambling.

I'm sure there's other stuff too.

 

@furrylatula It's funny, I always get worried when my lowercase-friends type in sentence case, but also when Tez (@LadyNighteyes) types in all-lowercase I'm like ?!?!

I don't know what my quirks are, hm. I know on skype I am extremely interpretive with my comma use, leaving them out to the point of ambiguity most of the time and then busting them out for,,,, tavros pauses? On skype I tend to punctuate with message breaks instead of actual punctuation. I end too many messages with :P emoticons - that one carries over to Kintsugi, although the rest of these really don't. I often type v instead of very and p instead of pretty, and I also drop personal pronouns from the beginning of statements.

 

when i get excited or confused i will put exclamation and question marks first, like so:
!!!!!!!!holy shit
??can't parse

same!

 

That probably has to do with the fact that we've known each other online for most of ten years and I've used sentence case and ~proper~ punctuation pretty consistently for... all of it. :::PPP

...Actually, there's another one. ~Sarcastic tildes~. I was so mad when Skype started turning my sarcastic tildes into unwanted strikethroughs.

 

By default, standard capitalisation and punctuation.

all lowercase when i'm being flippant or deadpanning

CamelCase For Emphasis.

Sentences may or may not end with a period based on the phase of the moon and the migratory patterns of the monarch butterfly

Commas sometimes disappear if I'm expressing frustration via run-on sentences.

Extra punctuation for sarcasm!!!!

Flourishes for ~*~Super Sarcasm~*~

Phrasing tends to be blunt, unless I'm confused or am using the conversation to fully think through a point, in which case I'll get vague and meandery.

 

pretty much all of what i type here reads to me as a deadpan because i'm not using the majority of my tone indicators. it makes dry sarcasm more fun, though.

 

Man, all these are me.

Capitalization and punctuation are a crapshoot with me dependent on my mood, whether im on mobile, the alignment of the planets, if i want to come across as more casual or formal ect
I will occasionally use :p to indicate teasing when I think it could be ambiguous and XD to indicate lightheartedness or joking.
Sometimes use gonna or gotta and occasionally a y'all

I actually can't use Tumblr typing styles or any other typing style designed to communicate emotion. Whenever I try, it comes out wrong. There's rules to this that I'm just not picking up on. Isn't that neat?

That's all I'm aware of

 

oooh!!

well the quirks that i am aware of are:

• punctuation is inconsistent, little to no capitalization
• ....except of course for Emphasis
• Many Things are Emphasized!!!
• CAPS FOR EMPHASIS AS WELL!!!!
• lots and lots of exclamation points!!!! also many ellipses........
• i type like. okay so imagine the most excited golden retriever you've ever seen in your God Damn Life
• thats how i type
• you are all extremely lucky that you are not chatting with me in real-time because i am Nigh Incomprehensible if im typing in a hurry
• this is because i am!! very excited!!!!
• most of my capitalization and punctuation choices are very purposeful and i imagine that i am occasionally misinterpreted for this precise reason, which stresses me out, but i am not quite sure what to do about it!!
• I'm perfectly capable of formal sentence structure, but I really do not like using it on the internet. It makes me feel stifled and hinders my ability to communicate effectively and comfortably.
• THAT WAS UNCOMFORTABLE!!
• i like using smilies!! sometimes you just gotta express your feelings through smilies
• (⋈ó◡ò)
• >:3c
• :|

ANYWAY

 

I do sound noise typing different than other people i just found out!

to me nnng is sorta an ugh. that whiny noise you make with your throat when you have to get up.

mm and mmh are the like. hell yeah, hot noises

nnh is the mixture of the two

hhhhhhhhh is some level of intense excitement. like that moment when you freeze up out of excitement and all you can do is exhale?

 

-exclamation points!
-capitalization only 4 Emphasis
-8)
-txtspk
-'u' and 'you' in the same sentence
-the more nervous i am the more txtspk there is
-Proper capitalization and a cessation in swearing means that things have gotten real.

 

I have a tendency to capitalize words at times for emphasis. Also like I use like a lot? She was like and he was just. So on and so forth. I hate commas and use them erratically. I love ellipses and certain faces. Depending on where I am and who I am with my typing gets progressively shittier! I am a master of typos. So many typos. Because after a point I legit give no fucks.

 

this is super interesting!!!

let's see, the one's i've noticed:

• using "like" to stereotypical valley girl degrees, i literally can't stop and it haunts me
• in general an all lower-case typing style. one day i stopped pressing the shift key and never looked back. except for Emphasis or Sarcasm (Or the rare occasion I want what I'm saying to be taken Seriously and then I type in sentence case.)
• excessive !!! or ??? to indicate excitement!!!! or disbelief??oh my god???
• i play fast and loose with punctuation rules
• rlly, tho, tbh, w/, idk, w/e, rn, srsly, abt
• i just, i use a lot of abbreviations
• legit (which as far as i know is another southern cali/nevada regional thing)
• u & ur a lot
• 2 & 4 instead of "to" and "for" when i'm trying to be especially Flippant ("im way 2 gay 4 this" is a legit tag on my blog)
• the trade mark symbol for Sarcasm™
• kawaii~*
• yall
• you guys
• ye
• exaggerating words by adding extra letters (suuuuuper, a looooot, HOLLLY SHIT etc etc)
• a lot of italics for emphasis guys
• and i do tHE SUDDENLY UPPER CASE BECAUSE I CANNOT DEAL
• using literally/literal to exaggerate when i'm being sarcastic or for emphasis ala "i could [x] for literal days"
• for smilies: XD for "i die from laugh", :P for "i'm being as smarmy little shit rn don't take this srsly", :D for pure innocent enjoyment, DDD: for not-really sad but still, :/ for lowkey disappointment/discomfort

oh also @applechime i've been meaning to tell you, i rlly love how ur smilies are always wearing bows, it is the cutest

 

I know I have writing quirks - I have been told that people can tell it's me within a line or two - but due to "words make no sense to me unless I am really working hard at them" I don't know that I could identify any other than my tendency to really long lines with lots of explanations embedded. I have been told that I could not pass for an anon by anyone that has ever seen me before.

 

my writing quirks:

• 'cause instead of because
• no capitalization, not much formal grammar
• punctation is inconsistent, depends on my mood and what would look best or be the most funny
• trying to say things in the best or most humorous way, even when it veers from my usual writing style
• deliberate avoidance of crytyping and other stuff like that
• stretching some words to indicate enthusiasm or that i'm drawling them out
• elaborating on/adding onto what i'm saying with commas, stretching a sentence to the point where it could almost be two but keeping it as just one with a lot of commas
• i try to use the oxford comma 'cause i think it probably reduces confusion
• "like," "uh," and stuff like that sometimes, trying to convey my uncertainty and imprecision and trouble at getting at what i mean without making people think i have absolutely no confidence in what i'm saying
• :D, 3 in a row when i want to convey that i'm really enthusiastic
• casual, informal tone
• some "ain't"s and "gonna"s and other slang picked up from roleplaying as norm the genie
• some swearing but not much, try to adjust the amount of that depending on who i'm talking to and the tone of the conversation and whether it'd be good for the effect i'm going for
• trying to say things as clearly as possible, to get to the point and avoid getting lost or muddled up
• i use kintsugi's quote function a lot when replying to people
• making jokes real quickly when they come into my head, being more confident about posting them than i am about most other things
• sometimes i resort to echolalia when my own words don't feel good enough or when the words i'm echolaling are just really awesome, use hamilton lyrics and stuff to convey how i feel and make jokes
• capitalize "Gem" when i'm talking about the steven universe aliens to make it clear that i mean them, not ordinary non-sentient gems
• Capitalization For Emphasis, highlighting that a concept is important or that it's separate from the rest of the sentence or that i'm being snarky or just 'cause it looks better that way
• calling people by (shortened versions of) their usernames more than by their first names or nicknames
• italicizing the names of shows, books, episodes, fics, movies and other fiction
• splitting paragraphs up after a sentence ends with "?"
• splitting paragraphs in small chunks to enhance clarity or 'cause it sounds better that way, attempt to avoid walls of text
• 'and [blank] was/would be like, "[approximation of what they said or what they would say]"', pretty much the same with stuff someone'd done or would do but without quotation marks
• tumblr chat post style ("[blank]: [thing they said or did]")
• asterisks around an action to indicate that it is one

 

Dunno, kinda, oughta, etc. Try to keep a converational tone, yeh? Also, the ", yeh?" Thing. End thoughts with "I dunno" as a sorta "I'm rolling over and showing my belly please don't fight me" kinda deal. "Kinda deal".

!!! To indicate wordless enthusiasm.

 

• Deeeefinitely typing how I talk, at least in informal situations? Dragging out vowels, onomatopoeia, etc. Also phrasing.
• Chopping off ending 'g' on gerunds and verbs ending in -ing (doin, sayin, nothin)
• "Going to" -> "gon"
• Prone to sentence fragments, heh, especially when I'm tryna think of things.
• "?" and "!" (and multiples of same) standing as """sentences"".
• Using multiple quotation marks (usually in uneven amounts, see above point) around a word or phrase to indicate... sarcasm? Obvious disbelief? Not sure how to phrase it.
• Constantly going back to edit in little phrase fixes or new thoughts after I post, what is proofreading or reliability?
• Capitalizing Important Phrases for emphasis and/or sarcasm.
• Parenthetical asides everywhere
• terminal punctuation optional, especially in IM format
• ...IM gets weird in general, actually, I tend not to spell-check as much or bother with proper grammar
• ...ellipses as lead-in to points
• Italics are more common than bold? Iunno what my problem with bold is but my first choice is always italics. Underlines exist only for titles/headers.
• Question marks instead of other terminal punctuation if it's something I've just realized or am not sure of, even if the sentence is phrased as a declaration. (See above point: "Italics are more common than bold?" instead of "Italics are more common than bold".)
• Increasing numbers of punctuation marks to express higher emotional response. "Why?" is a simple request for clarification, "Why????" a more general indication of confusion and inability to reason my way through whatever it is. (Likewise, "!" is to "interesting!" as "!!!!!" is to "holy crap!")
• Using emotes after practically every sentence to indicate tone, usually with colon-eyes instead of equal-sign eyes. (:D, :P, c: rather than =D =P =))
• ...also, an aversion to using parentheses in emotes. They look Too Wide next to colons, it's Wrong
• Breaking sentences up into fragments with periods when I'm unsure or to indicate pauses. ("I know you said not to, but like. I. I kinda wanna. Do the thing???")
• [Square brackets] to indicate action.
• liberal use of acronyms (af, iirc, etc) and the insidious Homestuck additions (hopy shit, gr8, etc)

...I will probably continue editing this as more things occur to me. (If any of y'all who actually talk to me see a thing that I didn't realize myself, please tell me, I'm interested :P)