I have a friend that doesn't like the way I reply to e-mails. When I reply to e-mails, I usually quote a section that I'm replying to, then reply to it, then quote the next section that I'm replying to, then reply to it, and so on. She much prefers that I just put everything that I'm saying all together in one place (which I've taken to mean the top of my replies).
Perhaps this all goes back to my deep roots in the 'net. I've been using the Internet since my junior year of high school, which was about five years ago (that makes me feel so old). I've participated extensively in IRC, newsgroups (RMT-A (though no longer), the opera.* newsgroups (I'm currently known as Some people call me... Tim
), and various other places), ICQ (I have an UIN under 200,000--they're at like 40,000,000 now), AIM, et cetera. Early on, I learned that the preferred style of quoting (according to those that have been here for a while) on the Internet is bottom posting. Since then, I've adopted that style and use it quite extensively.
That's it, I need to marry a techie. But I digress.
Being the obliging person I am, I try to reply to e-mails as my friend prefers it. Unfortunately, I've noticed that I'm not employing simple english skills taught to me from the second grade: I'm not answering in complete sentences. She'll say something like what is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything?
and I simply write (at the top of the e-mail, with the rest of my reply) 42.
Of course, the correct way to write that answer would be Why, my dear friend, according to Douglas Adams' excellent book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the answer to the meaning of life, the universe, and everything is 42. Of course, you just have to figure out the question.
That answer is much better because not only do I cite a source, but I answer in a complete sentence!
Perhaps this has all just been a lesson to me that I should answer questions in complete sentences.
