Oh yeah, in my defense, I don't think my use of italics and underlines are gratuitous. In case no one has noticed, this is my scheme.
I use italics when introducing a scientific or mathematical word for the first time in a post. This is because, in science, what we're talking about is very specific and, thus, it's extremely important to get your terminology correct. Unlike a poem, there's not supposed to be any room for interpretation. You're supposed to understand, exactly, what I'm saying!
Also, a lot of terms used in mathematics and science have different meanings in their contexts than they do in everyday English. So, I use italics to indicate that I'm using their specific meanings, rather than their everyday ones.
I use underlines for the same reason everyone else does--to emphasise a point. People get confused easily when talking about (often) tricky or subtle ideas. Let's face it, science and math (in particular, math) are very abstract ideas, so to help understanding, I underline key points (usually just words, actually, but sometimes entire sentences!) to facilitate understanding.
I also try to ensure that I use proper grammar and spelling, and that I make good use of paragraphs. I'm very interested to learn if anyone has noticed any of this! Does this help at all or does it just serve to confuse people, like it has (apparently) Supple Cow.
Oh yeah, I also use italics to indicate proper nouns, like people's names, but this is not particular to Tilted Knowledge. I do this on all the forums...
Last edited by KnifeMissile; 03-12-2004 at 02:53 PM..
|