Posted by Michelle Steiner on 11/16/80 11:36

In article <851029e44d%Graeme@greywall.demon.co.uk>,
Graeme Wall <Graeme@greywall.demon.co.uk> wrote:

> > > > It has meant italics for at least the fifteen years I've been
> > > > on usenet.
> > >
> > > We've been around about the same time then, and I still haven't
> > > seen them used that way.
> >
> > different newsgroups maybe?
>
> Can't see that the newsgroup would make a difference, it is what the
> newsreader does that counts

I was thinking more of the fact that customs differ among newsgroups.
In some, for instance, it's a no-no to write "newsgroup," but one must
write "newsfroup" or be heaped with scorn by the regulars.

So maybe in the newsgroups you've been participating in, using slashes
is the norm, and in the ones I've been participating in, underscores are
the norm. I do know that in the 1980s and early 1990s, underscores were
the only recognized way to indicate italics when posting to dial-up
bulletin board systems.

--
Stop Mad Cowboy Disease: Impeach the son of a Bush.

[Back to original message]