oh.. i'm a big fan of not capitalizing and using "....."s I hope my subject headings have been clear, though.

In general, I like a definite subject heading. It also helps to find posts with pictures or other ones that might be of interest to me. Sometimes I'll see a great post and then lose it because of a nebulous subject heading.

So, my love of "...."s aside, I'm definitely for a clear subject heading.

Yes!

But then, I click anyway. Like just now...

I'm a bad one for using the dots - that's for sure. Lots of dashes too...perhaps I was a Morse Code wizard in a former life ???

Actually, I don't like the dots so much in the headings but I use them a lot in the posts because that's the way I speak. Easily distracted I guess :(

Hey! Are you complaining about me??? :-)

I admit it, I use "..." a lot. But, like SailorMann, that's pretty much the way I speak I guess. It just sounds "right" in my head!

Another reason to use it is that you can't use multiple spaces in the text or subject lines... ;-)

To clarify, I don't object to the dot dot dot, but rather excessive mystery in the subject line.

I guess I need to chill out . . .

I just think it's less likely that the person will get responses, so it only hurts them. I don't read posts with vague titles unless I'm really bored...so it may take a few days if I read them at all. The ones with specific subjects that interest me and/or grab my attention are the ones I read first, and I figure I'm probably not unique in that.

What annoys me, or at least confuses me, is when people post, we respond, but we never hear from the OP again. I'm not looking for undying appreciation or anything, but it's nice to get feedback and know if we're on the right track for the person or what they're thinking after reading the comments. It feels like you're talking into darkness and you can't tell if the person is still there. ;-)

Good point, rhome. Although, I think sometimes people lose their threads and don't know how to find them again? A lot of people use the top search thingy instead of the bottom one.

The ..... doesn't bother me, but what DOES bother me is very vague subject lines, like "I have a question". It bother me some when the OP never checks back on his/her thread either, but I can understand that. This board moves FAST and if you forget to check the little block to notify you of a response to your thread, it would be easy to lose it.

This is too funny. When I first saw this thread, my first thought was I should post a similar title and start a thread on the subject of vague titles. Then I clicked on it, and that's exactly what it was.

You saved me the trouble. LOL

ccoombs1 wrote:
>>>>This board moves FAST and if you forget to check the little block to notify you of a response to your thread, it would be easy to lose it.What little block?? I am one who has lost a couple of threads and would like to do a follow up post.

TIA
Shirley

Shirley, when you start a new thread, right under the box where you type your message, there is a little box to check with this next to it:

"Check here if you would like copies of follow-ups to your message emailed to you".

It works great!

Cindy

Oh...whoops...I'm the queen of CAPITALS and dot-dot-dot...sorry!!! (oh, and lots of exclamation points too...guess I drink too much coffee...three kids five-and-under do that to me!!)

But Cindy, my little box to try to get copies e-mailed to me has never worked...since the day I signed up here many moons ago. Don't know why!! But I check that little box faithfully each time!
:)
Sarah

Sarah, make sure you have a correct Email address in your profile or it won't work. Mine always works!

Oh...another thing that REALLY bugs me is people who do not use any punctuation and/or and never start a sentence with a cap. People who use i instead of I. And people who always use chat room lingo...like r u instead of are you. Oh, that drives me MAD!! I don't go to chat rooms and I do not intend to learn the lingo just to communicate with someone. I mean really...how hard is it to spell out a three letter word? LOL doesn't bother me...I use that one too. But trying to read a sentenance with a lot of chatroom shortcuts and no capitals is just too hard for this old head to grasp!! lol!

Cindy

ccoombs1 (not capitalized because you didn't...), my email link has never worked either, and I know that's been a complaint of many other posters over the years. It's odd that it works so well for some and not for others. I just google my name if I want to retrieve my posts.

I also am not a fan of "r u" (I'm getting used to it) but I think a lot of folks who do that got it from texting on their phones. It's quicker and saves space so the cell phone doesn't have as much chance of cutting the message off (for being too long).

When I mark that box, it never works either. I will be sure to check my registered e-mail. Thanks- I feel like I always lose posts that I start or respond to.

erika -- re. "draw/drawer" -- since moving to Maine I've learned that it's standard New England dialect to pronounce "drawer" (drore) as "draw" (drah). [Think Norm Abram and his New Yankee Workshop, happily churning out chests of "drahs".] Apparently this is also how it's often pronounced in England and Oceania. Maybe folks are just phoneticizing when they write it out?

Or maybe (and this is speaking as an amateur linguist) there's some cross-extrapolation going on, where folks imagine "drah" to be classier than saying "drore", a la foy-er (foi-ay) vs foyer (foyr). :)

--
And yes, I also eye-roll to unnecessarily vague (or much worse, unnecessarily drama-laden) titles. Although I think they get the response they've asked for when nobody reads them, and new posters soon learn to be more specific.

IT'S ALSO SO ANNOYING WHEN PEOPLE YELL IN THEIR POSTS BY USING ALL CAPS. FOR SOME REASON THIS PROBLEM HAPPENS A LOT IN THE APPLIANCES FORUM. I ALWAYS WANT TO RESPOND, "WHY ARE YOU YELLING? STOP THAT!"

I get frustrated when someone doesn't share how they finally resolved whatever it was they posted about. I really enjoy watching how designs evolve and how they end up.

I think it might be something that people new to GW do... I think I might be guilty of this - my thinking went that if I could just intrigue someone enough to look at my post I would get more responses. After being on here for a while I have learned that the more specific you are the more targeted will be the group of people responding and the better responses you will get.

I am queen of the dot dot dot.... couldn't write without them.... sorry if it is annoying.... have a nice day....

hey, circuspeanut -

I've lived in New England all my life, and I rarely hear draw (vs. drawer)... (there it goes - the dot dot dot :D ). Where in Maine are you ? I'm in Southern, but grew up in western NH.

-Susan

My checking of the little box has never worked for me
either...
vic

I'm in New England too (NH), and I don't think I've noticed people saying "draw," but I'll have to pay more attention. In the part of Ohio where I grew up, lots of folks said "warsh" instead of "wash" and "crick" instead of "creek." I enjoy regional accents, especially a Maine accent!

Also ... I like dot dot dot ... !

P.S. Checking the box has never worked for me either.

There are three things you have to do to get emails sent to you:

1. Be sure you have a valid/current email address in your profile

2. Again in your profile, be sure you have the "Allow other users to send you email via forms at our site." box checked (at the bottom of the profile page)

3. Be sure to check the box labeled "Check here if you would like copies of follow-ups to your message emailed to you" when you submit your post. (Below the "Message" box)

Hmmm...maybe a 4th step...don't forget to "Save Your Member Profile" when you make changes! (button at bottom of profile page)

If you do all 3 (or 4!) things, you should get an email when someone posts to your message. Item 1 should be retroactive and Item 3 is not (you cannot update a Thread); I don't know if item 2 is retroactive. All future messages, though, should be fine.

HTH!

"If you do all 3 (or 4!) things, you should get an email when someone posts to your message

"Should" is the key word, Buehl, because I get some of the responses to my posts and not others. It's not a perfect system even if you've crossed all the t's and dotted all the i's of what you're supposed to do. The same with contacting someone by their email link on their 'my page.' Sometimes I don't even bother to check the box, because the inconsistency makes it kind of worthless...You can't know for sure if someone commented unless you check.

I like ...

I don't read messages that use "U" or "ur" in place of "you" and "your". If you can't take the time to type, I can't take the time to read. Too much time gaming online years ago I suppose--I have unfairly stereotyped people who type like that. Informal, casual, and sloppy typing styles don't bug me (obviously!), but give me flashbacks to my younger days and I'm not reading!

"Draw" is one thing. But what I can't understand is using an apostrophe in plurals. I never saw it until the past decade or so but now it's EVERYWHERE! Where did people learn this? How did it happen? But often people who do it do it inconsistently which just baffles me. I like dog's, cat's, and birds.

this thread is really getting entertaining!! I am so glad we all have this chance to vent! Fori, I think improper use of comma apostrophe is one of the most common mistakes. I see it everywhere! I see it very often in advertising...mostly local small businesses that put up fliers. You would think that if a person was doing some advertising for their business, that they would be especially careful about proper grammar, spelling and punctuation. Guess not.... (there's those darn dot dot dots again.....)

The dot dot dot thing makes me want to read the post.
What bugs me is when people use "then" when they should use "than".
fori-Are you talking about plural possesives or something else? i.e. the dogs' leashes ?
In the end I guess this forum isn't about grammar, correct spelling or typing is it.

(not to digress)...
Here in New York we get "draw" (for drawer), "fustrated" (for frustrated), "libary" (for library), and my all-time, personal favorite..."tur-let" (for toilet!).
-sarah

I think "annoying" makes ME want to read! :)

But generally one will get more views if one includes some indication of the question in the title of the post, even if there are dots. Or if one indicates it might be ranty...like ANNOYING!!!!

That's why posts about "venting" are always disappointing. When I'm looking to read a vent and instead get something about ventilation, well, you know.

And what about GardenWeb uncapitalizing all our names? Is that just my browser or do I need to pay something or what? I once had a capital F. Obviously I've been here too long.

I registered as ErikaNH, but it turned into erikanh. Oh well.

When I make a typo or misspell something, my browser underlines it in red. Is that just a Firefox thing I wonder? Of course that doesn't help with mixing up you're and your and their, there and they're etc. which I've done before when my typing gets ahead of my brain.

buehl, thanks for the email instruction ... I'm going to check and make sure I've done all the steps correctly.

hey Susan,
I'm in Portland. LOVE it here, although it was a work-related move with no prior clue what it would be like. I hear a lot of "drah" around these parts. Maybe it's a Boston corridor thing?

As an actual Freshman English prof, I can say that my all-time biggest annoyance is "alot". Not to mention its/it's, their/there/they're, further/farther. Or "login" for log in, "ect" for etc, "hehe" for hee hee.

But hey! I'm not here for the grammar, either, of course. Unless someone writes so phonetically that I can't parse it until I actually say the sentence out loud.

And Igloochick should absolutely keep her charming idiosyncracies, like "rediculous." ;-)

Yeah the autospellcheck is a Firefox feature. I make up a lot of words, so I see it often.

Check out really old posts--everyone has their original capitalization.

I have a hard time writing without using ellipses, but I agree that it's annoying at the end of the subject line.

About the "draw" thing, I live in New England and hear it from time to time, but I presume that the people who use it know that the word is spelled "drawer." Just like the people who say "b'daydas" know that it's spelled "potato," to use another bit of local color!

No no, they write "draw." I've seen it here many times.

ruh roh! I type "hehe" instead of "hee hee" ... got that from my DD.

circus, my personal pet peeve is mixing up less and fewer. Oh! and incident and incidence. My daughter laughs at me because I correct the new announcers. =)

Ooh, yes, those are awful, Erika.

And here's an obscure pet peeve bound to offend 2/3 of the readers here: when people use "momentarily" to mean "in a moment", when it actually means "for a moment". They should use "presently" to mean "in a moment."

Flight Attendant; "We'll be landing momentarily."
Persnickety Circuspeanut: "I hope it'll be long enough for me to get off the plane."

Yes, Joann, ellipses! I knew that in a former lIfe, before I became a cretin. That's the danger of criticizing others' writing style-- there will always be someone more erudite.

Have you all read the widget thread in conversations? The discussion of peeves is hilarious. I'd link but I'm on my phone.

circus, oops I typed new instead of news! See?? LOL

I don't think I ever use the word momentarily, but I've often heard people using it the way you mentioned and never thought anything of it. Thanks for the lesson!

I guess I only use "momentarily" when I'm mimicking a flight attendant.

Irregardless, we're all learning kitcheny stuff and must forgive each other our writing bloopers. (I meant to do that, by the way. And my spellchecker thinks it's a word!)

Ha ... and only a tiny percentage of people use "presently" correctly, as well. It does not mean "right now"; it means (as you said) "in a moment."

And I love dots ... I'm always trailing off ....

See, and the second you start over-thinking words, you start making mistakes; it's telling someone not to think about big pink fuzzy elephants.

LOL fori, and exactly: this is all just in good fun. We're not here for the grammar, we're here for the fabulous kitcheny klatsch & inspired design brilliance.

{{!gwi}}

What I've noticed since I've started reading here, although I'm not at all annoyed by it, is the frequent use of the expression "change out." As my screenname suggests, I'm here on the east coast. This is not an expression I've ever heard until now. One simply changes or switches something with something else where I come from. Is this recent, regional or have I just been living under a rock all these years and just never noticed?!

I'm guilty of ... but not unclear thread titles...

I don't use "change out" but I haven't paid it much attention. You're right. It's a weird expression. Now I probably will notice it every time and it'll probably start to bug me!

I blame reality/home improvement TV. I blame it for all the bad things.

Yes, Joann, ellipses! I knew that in a former lIfe, before I became a cretin. That's the danger of criticizing others' writing style-- there will always be someone more erudite.

Have you all read the widget thread in conversations? The discussion of peeves is hilarious. I'd link but I'm on my phone.

Actually, what really irritates me is when people have a subject line of "A Kitchen Question" or "Help", because, this is a kitchen forum, obviously it's a kitchen question, and if you're asking a question, obviously you want help!! Similarly, I regularly check craigslist "Free" items, and I am equally annoyed when the subject line is "Free". DUH!
A general request to the world: Have subject lines that give readers some idea of the content inside! Otherwise I won't bother opening "A Kitchen Question", unless I'm really, really, really bored.

Carla in Sac

I THINK.......................

Thanks for all the chuckles! A lot of these things are where language has changed in one region but not in another. My own pet peeve? It irks me something fierce when people use the wrong pronouns, and even worse, mix case. (E.g., He got between she and I and Her and I are going to the store). I know it's because the language is changing, but I'd rather hear chalkboard squeaks...

This thread is...too funny, two funny, to funny! I'm too TKO to worry to much about my grammar and spelling. This from the daughter of an English major...I was constantly corrected growing up.

What about LOL? Come on, are you really Laughing Out Loud as you're typing away? To me, it's sort of like canned laughter, if something is funny, you don't need to cue people to laugh. And don't get me started on ROTFL.

Kristi,
I was just getting ready to add the same thing about LOL. I think there is a lot of inappropriate use on that one.

It strikes me that I read things along the lines of: I think I'll put hardwood floors in the kitchen...LOL. What is so funny?

rotflmfao

nm.