I noticed long ago that, when posting on the internet, since you can't see a person's face or read their body language, that it is VERY easy for a comment to be taken the wrong way. Humor and especially sarcasm can be really hard to convey, particularly when dealing with sensitive topics or just plain sensitive people. As a result I've taken to using emoticons A LOT. A wink here or a smiley face there goes a long way! So I'm wondering what all of you think about it.... curiosity killed the cat and I'm next! ;)
Search
Are emoticons the cure???
(24 posts) (8 voices)
-
Posted 1 year ago #
-
I should add that, Obviously, there are times when we mean EXACTLY what we say ie. trolls, or those answering said trolls hateful comments.... I'm not asking about those occasions...
Posted 1 year ago # -
popables, you are a good and likeable person (unless you have us all fooled... hmmm) and so your use of emoticons is perfectly fine to me.
unfortunately, just as with words, they can be wielded differently according to differing intentions.
at least half the time, i see emoticons/LOLs used as weapons, usually by passive-aggressive people.
it's like being damned with faint praise, you know?
"i think you are a piece of gelatinous crap. LOL!"
"your mama, who wears army boots, did my father, his 4 cousins, and all 7 of the groomsmen on her wedding night. ROFLMAO"as for the little waving, ducking, pantomiming smiley-figures? i confess to simply finding them annoying.
so i take my chances, and for that, a fair amount of lumps -- as a very sarcastic person who loves good humor but is not great at producing it, folks often misconstrue my meaning. i am not blind, though, and when such misunderstandings start to pile up, i try to take my own inventory and set a course for correction.
today, though? (i am assuming you are refering to the mild sparks going off in the cheesehead video commentary) sexandzits was deliberately cruel and hurtful to me recently and i won't waste any bona fide opportunity to stick it to her.
Just kidding.
LOL
Posted 1 year ago # -
You're right! As with anything they can be used to make a situation even worse... and I have seen many people that find emoticons just plain annoying.
You're right again, I did bring this up because of the newest battle. Unfortunately, there's always got to be at least one person who feels the need to ruin the good vibes for the rest of us.... I just try to make sure it's not me! :)Posted 1 year ago # -
well, except for poking at festering sores to see what might erupt, your hands are clean.
Posted 1 year ago # -
That is good to hear!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Popables - is that your pup in the avatar pic? He or she is absolutely adorable! Reminds me of a brother sister pair of pups I rescued and subsequently adopted out. They were shepherd/pit mixes, hyper but sweet as the day comes. Your pup has that same adoring look.
I always wished I could have kept the male, but as I lived in a teeny apartment at the time in the city, wasn't particularly physically active, and had no car to reach the various dog parks, I made sure Argus (that is what I called him) and his sister found homes that could provide what they needed and deserved.
Ach, anyways, just curious about the lovely puppy in my MS Window! (gotta love lame jokes)
~ H.S.
Posted 1 year ago # -
H.S. yup that would be Zoey! She is a MASSIVE Anatolian Shepherd. She is about 11 months old now and weighs about 140lbs.... We rescued her from our local animal shelter, they had found her wandering around town. She was sooo thin that you could see all her bones. What kind of person takes a beautiful being like that and then just shoves them out the door and forgets about them?!? I just don't understand people sometimes.... Anyway, we have her now and she is Daddy's girl and she is spoiled rotten (which is how it should be for all pets in my opinion). The only problem is that she's now bigger than me and she keeps trying to kick out of the bed (literally), and take over my spot! She's definitely tons of fun! :)
Posted 1 year ago # -
Oooh, we are talking doggies here now, yay! My Big Nose, or Mahalo, which is her real name was found wandering the streets of a neighboring town a few years ago. She was still engorged with milk from her puppies when we 1st saw her at a rescue operation being held at one of the local pet food and supply stores. She was only nine months old, and we could tell from her demeanor esp. around men in hats, that she had been severely abused. At that time she weighed 65 poounds, and we were told that she was a Bull Mastiff. My husband fell in love, and although we didn't have much of a yard, we had a huge park at the end of our court, and tons of love and patience. She was the easiest dog to train, only one potty mistake inside, and she loved my daughter, I only had one then. We still never left the 2 of them alone, you never know, right? She still had an irrational fear of men in baseball caps, and I know that this is strange, but she was predjudiced. She did not like Hispanic males. Hmmm...she was definately used as a breeder for a dog fighting ring, and beat by a Hispanic male in a baseball cap, right? Just my opinion of course. Over the years, she has lost her fears and become one of the most wonderful pets EVER. I recently noticed that my husband had stopped telling people that she was a Bull Mastiff. We always got asked about her size, as she's on the small side for Bull Mastoff's, but we assumed that she had been stunted by being bred too soon in life. Not so. When i questioned my husband, he actually sat me down, and said "be cool about this, okay Tif?" Mahalo is actually a Canary island Mastiff, bred only for fighting. Several years ago, a woman was killed either in San Diego or San Fran by 2 of these dogs, and everyone in CA has an irrational fear about them. Mahalo is a big baby. She is growing old now, and sometimes needs a little help jumping up into the back of our Tahoe, which breaks our heart, but she is on some cool meds that seem to help her loosen up a bit. I can only hope that the horrible person that would breed these beautiful dogs for fighting and abuse them has been caught and is now being gang raped in prison. Yes, i feel that strongly about it. Just remember, my friends Canary Mastiffs CAN be wonderful pets. It's the owner, not the dog or the breed! ~Tif
Posted 1 year ago # -
popables... she's not even done growing, is she? oh my lord!
i heard that people who have lost their homes to foreclosure are sometimes just abandoning their pets (as well as their houses) -- when they could take the animal, at the very least, to a shelter. i'm with you - i don't get it. when we take on the care of an animal, that's a "forever" commitment.
reminds me of my emma, who was of indeterminate breed and just as large at 8 months. i had to find her a new home when she and my mate could not live peaceably together. (it was a close call as to whether emma or fred needed reassignment!)
have fun with zoey...
Posted 1 year ago # -
Popa ~
I hear you on having to shove much "dead-weight-sleeping-dog" pounds around when you wish to go to bed. And my dog, Cayno the Wonder Wheatie, weighs nowhere near what your Anatolian weighs! She is a mere 39 lbs., but stubborn as the day is long, whilst seeming to gain ten tons when lying next to Daddy, drooling happily on Mom's pillow - and I swear she smiles when snoring away!!!
I did breed rescue for many, many years in another life - which is why when I saw the ad in our local "trader's" magazine (tangent: "Uncle Henry's", free ad with forms at back of book, comes out every Thursday and costs $1.50. I read them like summer bodice rippers, its like E-bay before computers - thousands of ads for everything you could want but never actually need. Now back to interrupted sentence...) for, I s*it you not - 'FREE CHICKENS. EIGHT. TWO PUPS. LIVE IN TRAILER, LEAVING WITHOUT THEM IN TWO DAYS' or something like that.
The 7 month old pups were in a feces strewn cage, dirty, malnourished, dehydrated - one half of the cage was for the chickens, the other half fenced off for the dogs - no gate - the guy hauled both out by the scruff (and they were not small by this point) and said "Here ya go, take 'em." He wanted me to take the chickens, too, but no chickens allowed in my part of the city - otherwise I would have.
I couldn't leave them, no way. So home they went where they rehabbed with me for a few weeks while I got an idea of their natures and had them vetted before placing them. Alas, they were the last adoptions I did, well, except for a foster greyhound, Lady - but that was through an agency, not on my own.
I applaud adoptions, not purchases of dogs and cats. And I won't even go near the Retired Greyhound topic, but it was the best so-called job I ever had. Although having eight needle noses worming around your legs, all wanting attention at the same time... pure heaven! Work? Nope. Loved having my own little adoption group.
Anywho - Zoey is adorable. Just don't let her get away with too much, you don't want her to go all Beta Pack Female on you and never let you on the bed again. lol. Thanks for sharing the pup stories, ladies!
~ H.S.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Yeah boy, takes a special person to adopt a LARGE dog. Got problems controlling old cats & a small mutt. HELP!!!!!!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Ahh dogs, my favorite subject! The dog in my pic is Franzi (pronounced Fronzee) his nick name is mama's boy. I am a puppy raiser for Guide Dogs for the Blind and Franzi was the second lab puppy that I raised and trained. He did not make the program because he would not go up stairs that you can see through. So we got him back as a pet dog. All total I am training #9 right now, a beautiful White English Golden Retriever. This is the first Retriever I have trained all previous 8 were Labs. The first one that I raised went on to work with a wonderful lady in Texas. Unfortunately he only worked for about a year and a half. He got really bad allergies that could not be cleared with meds or food. The owner called me one day and asked if I would like him back since she was going to retired him. Well I jumped at the chance and we now have Joiner a black lab as one of our brood. We also have Opie that I bought for $20.00. I was told he was a lab which was half true, he is a lab and chow. He is the old man of the group.
I can't even watch the Animal Planet channel that has the Animal Cop show. That just makes me sick to my stomach. The awful things that people do to animal just breaks my heart. I beleive that what you do to an animal should be done to you. Like that foot ball player Vic??? He should have been shot, hung, beat, burned, bitten and electrified. he got off way TO EASY.
I applaued all the people that adopt animals. Thank you for making a difference in their lifes.
I so wish there was a way to get across to America that when you buy a pet from a store you are supporting all those puppy mills. Now those people really need to be shot. I would gladly pull the trigger!!
Well to everyone on this site have a happy and healthy life with your dogs. I know that I am!!Posted 1 year ago # -
heck, give franzi a treat for me. i won't go up stairs i can see through either!
you give me an excuse to ask a question. the PA at my doctor's office was telling me how she had a new dog, one of two labs (both around 4 years old) that belonged to some old family friends who had a new baby and no longer wanted large dogs for pets. she then mentioned that the other dog "had to be put down." i expected to hear that he had been ill, etcetera, but the story was that the dog had started "yapping" at people. not biting, but "yapping," whatever that means. so they EUTHANIZED the dog?
am i missing something? if the dog's behavior is that objectionable, couldn't he have been placed somewhere appropriate -- maybe in a multi-dog situation? might there not have been a behavioral modification therapy or a medicine to try -- maybe he was anxious?
i'm afraid i wasn't able to control my reaction in front of the PA -- she just said, "I know, I know. I offered to take them both, but it really would have been too much..." as it is, she is going to put her new dog in "doggie day care" two days a week. (now i know what they do with the money i fork over every month.)
i feel out of step with the world when it comes to pets and their care...
Posted 1 year ago # -
Too bad for the dog. Had the dog been walked & socialized, its yapping would have stopped. They don't learn if they're isolated all day. Having 2 dogs to keep each other company won't solve behavior problems. Ain't no expert, just a fan of Ceasar Milan. Before I brought the mutt home, I asked the gal if he liked cats,since I had 3 sr. cats at the time. She said he played with the neighborhood cats & was housebroken. She should have said he "stalks cats" & housebroke meant doggie diapers. He's got manners now, better than some folks.
Never bought a cat from any shelter. They adopted me through the local yellow pages under "hand-out." We is just alley cats & mutts here, together forever, till one of us dies naturally.Posted 1 year ago # -
@Profderien Franzi says thank you for the cookie. He is always ready for one! He also wants to give you a high 4 (four toes on a paw...hahahaha)for being a comrad in not going up those kinds of stairs!!
What a crying shame that dog was put down. There was no need to do that if he really was just yapping. I'm guessing that by yapping he was just barking at people? If that was the case then the people who put him down should be put down. Yapping is such an easy fix. You have to be willing to spend time with your dog(s) if you own one. Puss was right when he said to take your dog for a walk(s) each day. Also with the walk a few minutes a few times a day doing a training exercise and your dog can be cured. People don't get that owning a dog is a huge commentment. You just can't feed and water it and then just leave it on it's own. When people do this that's when the couch becomes all torn up. The back yard has holes dug all over. The plants are pulled out of the ground...etc. You get the idea.
If you get a puppy it is just like having a new born baby. You have to get up every 2 hrs in the middle of the night to take it out potty. You have to watch it constantly all day. It's a big job.
It sounds like those people really didn't give a shit what happen to those dogs. I just don't understand how people can be so cold. Raising those dogs for 4 yrs and then say "oh just put him down cuz he yaps" just makes me want to bitch slap them.
Now if the dog did bite at someone I can understand their fear, having a new baby and all. Still That is a fixable problem. Labs bite just like every other breed out there. Dogs are going to do what they are taught. Like I said before if they are left alone they will terrorize you, your house, and your family. If the dog is trained you are going to have a well behaved animal. It is all up to the owners and how they treat their dogs.
Right now I have 7 dogs in my house. 3 are my personal dogs. My Guide Dog puppy and I am dog sitting 3 others. They age from 5 months, 7 months, 51/2yrs, 8yrs, 9yrs, 13yrs, & 14yrs. Not one fight and no bickering. They all get along just fine. Why? Because they all have been trained!
Well Prof I hope this has been helpful. I looked and saw that I didn't have Franzi's pic up. I didn't realize that you have to put up a pic on each page, is that right? His pic comes up when I post a comment on a video.Posted 1 year ago # -
ummmm I just got a new kitten :) I used to have a Jack Russel Terrorist but she hated my ex husband and he gave her away when I was out one day. It seems she was the one who was smart.
Posted 1 year ago # -
lol, dripper, I thought that you were a man, don't ask me why, just did or some reason. Poor puppy, let's hope she went to a good home.
I have a cat right now, along with 2 dogs and 2 kiddos. It gets pretty chaotic around here at times. Our dogs are both spayed, but we found our kitten hiding in our front bushes late one rainy night. My hubby ran to the store, as she was infested with fleas, and that is a big no-no in my home. My hubby had already been laid off from work for about a year, but we kept Bella (the kitten, not the vampire) inside, so we figured we'd wait until we were a bit more financially stable. Well, we didn't get there fast, we had to lose our home of 11 years, and move in with Hubby's parents. His mom is allergic to cats. She had to go outside, but (we hope) we've caught her heats soon enough to lock her up in the rooms that she is allowed in until they pass, and now we are getting back on our feet, she has an appt to get fixed, THANK GOD, those heats are something else. ALL that meauling, and rubbing her butt on things, touching her made her stick her butt in the air, even if it was a chin scratch, she is one horny cat, ick! So, order of things to do now that hubby is working again (we are in CA, btw, and got hit super hard b/c hubby was upper/middle management in construction/solar, guess which jobs went 1st? And guess which jobs now pay 30K less for a higher position? You guessed it, upper/middle management construction jobs!) Anyway, 1. get cat fixed, 2. get my husband a car, as he is driving my baby, my Tahoe 140 miles per day. 3. move out of his parents, although they have made it wonderful for us, with our own living room, and our own rooms hubby and I/kids in another. The dogs are treated like royalty, even the allergy inducing cat gets extra love. 4. fix our credit.
My life in a nutshell.Posted 1 year ago # -
OH! BTW, 'cause I know I'll get slammed for this, we have low cost vaccination clinics in our town, so all of our animals are up to date on shots, just not spaying (for the 1 cat). One is MUCH cheaper than the other!
Posted 1 year ago # -
@Inna why do you think you will get slammed for saying you have low cost vaccination clinics? We have been hit hard also in the money dept., so I will be taking my boys 3 dogs and 1 cat to the low cost clinic next week to get their shots. Who cares where they get the shots just as long as they get them! The only difference from the low cost and your vet is it is tecs giving the shots and you don't get a consul with your vet. Well if that saves me $50.00 to $100.00 right now you bet that I will be going to the low cost clinic.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Ha, ha. I thought dripper and halfstaph were men when I first got on the site. :-P (I like emoticons but they rub me wrong when they're used sarcastically. Sometimes it's hard to tell. The most rude thing is when everything is in allcaps--I feel like I'm being yelled at by my inner reading voice. I don't even read that crap anymore. I hope we can get some Netiquette at PTZ-it's such a good site!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm so thrilled to read there are dog lovers on PTZ. I've had to move back in with my parents too (after college)--the upside of that being I also get to hang out with the family dog. We've had her for 10 years and being cat lovers, we didn't know what we were getting into. So now our babydog is hell on paws, stubborn as a mule, and obsessed with deer excrement. She's also a compulsive licker (a bad combo with eating poop). But we love her so much! She's the most affectionate, loving dog and when her quirks aren't frustrating us, she's making us laugh. She loves meeting new people and they usually love meeting her too--she's got quite a cute face and a wiener-dog body.After 9 years I've begun training her again because I realized I wanted to have a better relationship with her. I accept that her behavior was our failure, not hers. She's picking up on "leave it," "up," and "watch me." She has miraculously learned to stop licking when I say, "Thank you. That's enough." I am SO PROUD of her for overcoming that compulsion!! There was a lot of praise involved. Also, since I'm training with food, walking her, and feeding her dinner, I'm now her favorite human (yeaya!). :-) These days I go with the Victoria Stilwell training philosophy, not the Ceasar Milan dominance theory, because I know my babydog wasn't learning respect and obedience, but instead fear and anxiety. It's never too late to train (we call it "play").
It pisses me off when owners blame their dogs for exhibiting the natural repercussion of neglect. I watch Animal Cops and some of these people are unbelievable. Do they not think animals experience pain!? Like, you treat a dog THAT way, I don't wanna see how you are with humans! Did anyone see that special on puppy mills and Pet Land? It was rough.
Once I get out of my parent's house, begin my career, and get some savings tucked away (again), I think I'll be stable enough to get my own dog. I know to go to a breeder, rescue, or a pound now. And, I will be looking for a dog whose temperament suits my lifestyle. Doggy classes are also in my future, as well as a modest emergency vet fund. Its hard to accept that I'm planning my life in years, not months, like before everything went to hell with the economy.
Posted 1 year ago # -
daten, I meant that I thought I'd get slammed for not having spayed my cat yet, not for choosing financially good decisions while broke! lol!
Posted 1 year ago # -
@Inna Well you sound like a responsible pet owner and you ARE getting your kitty fixed. I think that is wonderful. It is sad in these times that some times our pets are last on the list for things such as shots, spay, etc. It's not that we don't want to do the best for our animals it just the financial part has a lot to do with it. That is why I love the low cost clinics. Vets are so terrible expensive. I understand that they have over head to pay for but to have an office visit cost any where from $65.00 to $100.00 just to walk in the door is out of control. Then you have to pay for the shots, the spay etc. on top of the office visit.
I was dog sitting last week and one of the dogs had a seizure, then had another one, and then another one. So we hurried and gathered him in the car to take him to the emergency hospital. On the way he had a 4th seizure. Just to walk in the door was $77.00. They wanted to keep him over night and do some blood test, give meds and fluids. This all happened at 8pm and to keep him till 7am they wanted $1200.00!! I was in shock. Luckily I got a hold of the owner and he got to make the decision on what to do and what to spend.
I sure hope more people will look into the low cost clinics and continue to have their animal taken care of.Posted 1 year ago # -
I work or should I say worked for Merrill Lynch lol. The company has given me a year sabbatical with a cut in pay. My daughter and I live frugally for ourselves but care so much for our pets. I had to have a cat put down as it was going to cost me $1800.00 just for the tests, I was devastated. As I have said before it is very expensive to live in Southern Ontario. I wish we had low cost clinics but no such luck. I feel ripped for putting so many vet kids through college.
We are as responsible as we can afford to be in these times.
As to this thread pops, I find that in email and such we have a tendency too loose our inhibitions and type things we would generally never say. Prof is right... unless your talking to someone you cant really trust type written emotions.
I just don't take anything said here personally. Its just a hell of a lot of fun! Comrades in the defense for the right to pop zits and not be ashamed! tee hee
I am going to change my av back Tiff so you can see that I am not a man! HB BTWPosted 1 year ago #
Reply
You must log in to post.
Find Us On