371–380 of 643 posts
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no it's always been semicolon, the "super-comma" comes from describing how to use it. "It's similar to a comma but like a super comma."
Huh? I've always understood that the clause after the semicolon is peripheral; the meaning of the whole sentence does not change without it.
This feels like an existential threat to HN, and to the general concept of anonymous online discourse. Trust in the platform is foundational, and without it the whole thing falls down. Requiring proof of identity is the only solution I can think of, despite how unappealing it is. And even then, you'll still have people handing their account over to an LLM. I really struggle to imagine a way around it. It could be tha…
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It really is unfortunate that such a fun piece of punctuation has been effectively gutted. This isn't even really limited to just the em-dash, but I don't know if there's another example of a corporation (or set of them) having such a massive impact on grammar and writing as OpenAI and their ilk have. Entire sentence structures have been effectively blacklisted from use. It's repulsive.
> It really is unfortunate that such a fun piece of punctuation has been effectively gutted. This isn't even really limited to just the em-dash, but I don't know if there's another example of a corporation (or set of them) having such a massive impact on grammar and writing as OpenAI and their ilk have. Well, to be fair Gen-z slangs also have a massive impact. My generation sometimes point blank said to me that they…
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it's a cadence thing for me Em-dash matches how I speak and think-- frequently a halt, then push onto the digression stack, then pop-- so I use them like that. Em-dash matches how I speak and think (frequently a halt, then push onto the digression stack, then pop) so I use them like that. Em-dash matches how I speak and think, a halt, then push onto the digression stack, then pop, so I use them like that.
A poster commented that he read parenthetical remarks in an old-timey voice (I’d guess the trans-Atlantic accent). I love that idea. But for me they read almost as if you’re saying them under your breath (or a character is breaking the fourth wall and talking to the camera quietly). I read them but my brain assigns them less importance. Em-dashes keep everything on the same level of importance in my brain. Commas don…
Prior to the rise of LLM-written posts and the natural reaction of hair-trigger suspicion, I used to em and en dash fairly often in posts on HN. No reason really other than being a bit of a typography geek who happens to have always used dashes in casual writing instead of semicolons. So when I was setting up a modifier-key keyboard layer with AHK many years ago I put the em dash on modifier+dash just because I could…
I also used — and "proper" quotes which macOS/iOS puts in for you anyway I also like … This is like ruining swastikas and loading rainbows
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> super-comma This is the first time I've ever heard the character ";" referred to as such. It's always been "semi-colon" to me, is this a region/culture difference? I'm not saying you're wrong, I find it interesting.
> super-comma I would have assumed it's a synonym for apostrophe. super-comma upper-comma, with super meaning upper, like in superscript.
This feels like an existential threat to HN, and to the general concept of anonymous online discourse. Trust in the platform is foundational, and without it the whole thing falls down. Requiring proof of identity is the only solution I can think of, despite how unappealing it is. And even then, you'll still have people handing their account over to an LLM. I really struggle to imagine a way around it. It could be tha…
I don't think that's true at all. One of the things HN does is not let you interact in certain ways until you've earned sufficient karma. This is a basic proof-of-work. If your bot can't average a positive karma, then it'll never get certain privileges. Not to say the system is perfectly tuned for bots, because it's not. The point is that proof of identity is not the only option.
HN is doing okay at the moment because nobody is yet publishing ebooks and videos on how to astroturf HN to launch your SaaS. Unfortunately, Reddit hasn’t escaped that fate.
Good to know so I don't do it x10 more :D
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It's worth remembering that you can argue that the use of the word is acceptable now, but can you guarantee that in 30 years time the future world will agree with you to the extent that they let you hold a position of responsibility after using the word 30 years ago. There is precedent here.
The reason we look harshly on past word usage is because of what it represents. The use of slurs 30 years ago isn’t a problem because of the word but because it suggests an association with a specific behavior. If you look back to the 90s and see someone using a racist slur, you fill in the gaps and assume they were using it because they were racist. Will people in 30 years look back to today and judge those who show…
There are people are judging your character for using such terms today. Their existence is not in doubt. It is only the future prevalence of the opinion that is in question.
>it seems beyond the realm of possibility that people who hated clankers in 2026 will be looked upon harshly
Thus spoke many people in history who acted with impunity.