Colons for Dummies

Posted by Kindergarten cop on November 22, 2004

In Reply to: Slur posted by DH on November 21, 2004

: : : I treated you white.

: : : I am considering these options:

: : : 1) treated you whith white gloves (kindness)
: : : 2) gave you many attentions
: : : 3) treated you properly, generously

: : : I guess is an archaism or slang but I really cannot find anything on this, so I wonder if it is an obsolete expression because it does not appear in any dictionary.

: : : mercibus muchibus!

: : "I treated you white" can be considered a racial slur.

: : I treated you right. I treated you with respect.

: Onecolon's reply to Twocolon is probably right. Another example, "That's mighty white of you" undoubtedly racial--DH

: PS: Forgive for adopting the "Onecolon, Twocolon" biz. When you reach my age oftentimes after you switch from the forum thread page and start your followup you will have forgotten to whom you're replying

You're not too old to learn, one can hope. Pay close attention: Identifying postings as Onecolon or Twocolon is not a wise strategy. Every time there's a new response, a colon is automatically added. So what is one colon now becomes two, then three, etc. If there are 7 posters in the thread, the oldest has seven colons, and the newest has none. Anyone visiting the last thread can see where the "voice" changed. Look at this thread. Do you see how the responses you identified have changed? Class dismissed.

• Colons for Dummies JMM 22/November/04