Computer: Emoticon
Emoticon That Tells You How To Read The Sentence That Follows It   (+12)  [vote for, against]
The pirate face at the beginning of the sentence means: "read this sentence like a pirate"

The upside down pirate at the end of the sentence means: "Stop reading like a pirate." the same as the way Spanish people use question and exclamation marks only inverted. (The upside up/down bit inspired by Pertinax's post)

Here's how you'd use it:

So I picked up my date and said "(right side up picture of pirate) Arrg, ya be a fine lookin wench. Let's have a flagon o' grog and I'll show ye me parrot. (upside down picture of pirate)" and she slammed the door in my face.

You'd have a menu of cliche characters but pirate's the only one that comes to mind. I'd leave it on most of the time.
-- doctorremulac3, Sep 28 2010

musical notation http://method-behin...com/theory/notation
[xandram, Sep 28 2010]

Right attitude but too fat, gross teeth and no eye patch. http://www.google.c...93&biw=1280&bih=635
I'll keep looking. [doctorremulac3, Sep 28 2010]

"Arrrrg" prosthesis http://www.inewidea...826.html#more-33826
to help you get your "arrrrg" on. [doctorremulac3, Sep 28 2010]

I don't entirely get this idea...
-- Boomershine, Sep 28 2010


Arrr! A flagon o' GROG?!?!

(Note to self: Best not dwell too long on [doc] showin' the lassies his parrot after they see a picture of me... think about baseball... think about baseball... think about baseball...)
-- Grogster, Sep 28 2010


Thanks Boom. Effected the change.

I'll work on clarification in the morning. I'm trying to watch Dancing with the Stars and think at the same time. They don't go well together.
-- doctorremulac3, Sep 28 2010


//read this sentence like a pirate//

Most pirates were illiterate so would I be corrrect to assume that your emoticon is instructing me to slowly point at each word, whilst quietly mouthing a guess at it's sound and then after, say, about thirty seconds of this, give up in frustration and blow away the ship's cook with my flintlock pistol?
-- DrBob, Sep 28 2010


//Most pirates were illiterate// but fortunately their parrots were often quite well read.
-- FlyingToaster, Sep 28 2010


Wouldn't that have left them with curly edges?
-- DrBob, Sep 28 2010


Yes, and dirty fingerprints all over their naughty bits. (Hey, it gets lonely on those long sea voyages, OK?)
-- infidel, Sep 28 2010


All the pirates I've seen have been excellent readers. Teleprompters, scripts, add copy. Many probably do their lines perfectly on the first take.

I only deal with the idealized, modernized, sanitized and glamorized, hook/patch/peg/parrot/arrrrg pirate. If you don't say "Arrrg", swashbuckle, then laugh and jump off things you're not a pirate in my book.
-- doctorremulac3, Sep 28 2010


A bit like those inverted question marks and exclamation marks in Spanish, then?
-- pertinax, Sep 28 2010


Ya, know, I like that better.

I'm changing the idea pertinax, thanks. You'll share the credit/blame.
-- doctorremulac3, Sep 28 2010


This could be a good idea if emoticons weren't so well hated. Maybe using something like musical notation would work. [see link]
-- xandram, Sep 28 2010


I agree that emoticons have always been despised but look at them. Little smily faces with their tongues hanging out, eyes bugged out of their head, crying... ugh.

I'm only suggesting this for pirate speak. Although it would probably work with other cliche' characters, I wouldn't be interested myself.

By the way, Apple has expressed interest in installing a designated pirate key on all it's future computers. I'm not kidding, I'm super cereal about this. I swear to Ra, Thor and Zeus combined!
-- doctorremulac3, Sep 28 2010


I don't mind emoticons :) they do serve a purpose, and can help provide a useful level of emotional content that some people can find difficult to otherwise convey, or interpret. As with any other typographical element (!!!!!!) overuse can be ANNOYING!!! And of course, context is everything - I wouldn't expect my bank to send me a repossession order covered in non-smily faces...

"We regret to inform you that due to non payment of your mortgage, you are to be forcably evicted :("

Though even that would be a darn sight better than the same thing with smily faces all over it.
-- zen_tom, Sep 28 2010


(-: ¿Like this? :-)
-- nineteenthly, Sep 28 2010


//I wouldn't expect my bank to send me a repossession order covered in non-smily faces...//

As inappropriate as that would be it would be you'd have to admit it was hell-o' funny.

I actually use the keyboard based ones myself ;) =0 etc. (that last one's a scared manga character), the ones I despise are the little smily faces that nobody uses. Being a pirate this would be at the opposite end of the spectrum.
-- doctorremulac3, Sep 28 2010


Hmm. Does this work?

So I picked up my date and said: ";∆ Yadda yadda yadda arrgh. ∆;"

Ok, that most decidedly doesn't work. I typed a delta that kind of looked like a pirate talking out of the side of his mouth because he's mean. Instead of an eyepatch he's squinting one eye. The delta comes up jibberish so, no, that doesn't work.

Okie dokie, speaking of work.
-- doctorremulac3, Sep 28 2010


Where it gets tricky is if you want people to read your emoticons modified by some other emoticons.

:/ :) \:
-- zen_tom, Sep 28 2010


Well, show us the pirate then [doc]!!! I guess I'll bun since the edit...argghhh. +
-- xandram, Sep 28 2010


This (link) is the only pirate I could find with the attitude I'm looking for but other than that it's a pretty sorry pirate. Too fat, no eyepatch, I don't really need rotten teeth to complete the effect.

I'll keep looking.

BTW, here's a product to help you with your pirate "arrrrg" face. (link)
-- doctorremulac3, Sep 28 2010


//So I picked up my date and said: ";∆ Yadda yadda yadda arrgh. ∆;" //

You silver-tongued rascal!
-- pertinax, Sep 29 2010


LOL x 2
-- doctorremulac3, Sep 29 2010


;-> This is going to be a nice anno. You can tell by my lead in emoticon. I like this idea. I hate surprises.

For example: an email from your boss that sounds nice at first but ends up being the bomb.

Boss should start it with an angry emotie [':(

I meant angry pirate boss, you know.
-- blissmiss, Sep 29 2010


;-> [blissmiss] Best example/argument for this idea yet! Excellent. A bun for you and one for [doc].
-- Boomershine, Sep 29 2010



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