. = rip?
December 7, 2006 8:55 AM   Subscribe

what's up with .

i read this metafilter thread on james kim. wondering the origins of using the dot in this matter. I assume its some kind of linux reference that I'm not picking up on. Its hard to search for the answer cause it involves just .
posted by alkupe to Writing & Language (16 answers total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: this does not belong here - please take mefi related questions to metatalk. also, it's in the FAQ.

 
This may not go well... but, the dot typically is a "moment of silence" thing... abused, misused, used, self abused often
posted by HuronBob at 8:57 AM on December 7, 2006


You know, there's an FAQ at the bottom of the page.
posted by solid-one-love at 8:58 AM on December 7, 2006


Metafilter FAQ #4.
posted by mikel at 8:58 AM on December 7, 2006


I think it's kind of used as a "this is sad, but I can't think of any words that adequately express my thoughts" thing.

I'm sure I've seen a discussion or question about this somewhere recently, too - don't think it was here, though?
posted by Chunder at 8:58 AM on December 7, 2006


Response by poster: thanks. I didn't realize this was frequently asked.
posted by alkupe at 9:00 AM on December 7, 2006


FYI: This is relating to Metafilter, so a more appropriate place for this question would be in MetaTalk.
posted by reverendX at 9:00 AM on December 7, 2006


Response by poster: anyone know the origin?
posted by alkupe at 9:01 AM on December 7, 2006


Response by poster: man i guess i was totally breaking rules with this question.
posted by alkupe at 9:02 AM on December 7, 2006


I'm glad you asked this question, and, I hate to hijack your thread, but, I'm wondering what to get my dot for Christmas. He's three and he seems to have a preternatural fondness for matters macabre.
posted by found missing at 9:28 AM on December 7, 2006


odinsdream: "Which god?" and "Strawberry rhubarb."
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:35 AM on December 7, 2006


Any appropriate YouTube links, just for good measure?
posted by cyclopticgaze at 10:20 AM on December 7, 2006


This is the post where I demand the immediate return of the IMG tag.
posted by junkbox at 10:36 AM on December 7, 2006


man i guess i was totally breaking rules with this question.

Totally. But it's totally not your fault — because, as you say, it's impossible to "google" for punctuation; and there's nothing about the period to indicate that it's necessarily specific to MetaFilter (and therefore, that your question would belong in MetaTalk).

Thus, this question will continue recurring in AskMe until the practice — which is pretty stupid, after all — is ended.
posted by cribcage at 10:45 AM on December 7, 2006


Strawberry rhubarb? Makes me wanna yak. Blueberry all the way, man.
posted by grateful at 10:51 AM on December 7, 2006


I had the same question a while back when I was new to this site. I posted it in a thread where it was occuring and someone referred me to the FAQ. The thing is, I had looked around for a FAQ and hadn't seen one. THe link on the front page is so tiny and out of the way that it's easy to miss. (unless you search for 'FAQ', I guess, but that hadn't occured to me.)
posted by PercussivePaul at 10:54 AM on December 7, 2006


Surely if it were tagged '.', then going to . would work, better in effect than dot

No?
posted by dash_slot- at 11:01 AM on December 7, 2006


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