(no subject)

[cimorene]

ok, tentative list.

words used in im to indicate emotion/state-of-mind, outside of emoticons, which could conceivably be misinterpreted:

*shrug*
*sigh*
"hmmm"
"hahaha" [and/or "hehe"?]
"um."
[edit: "oh"?
"oops"?
"anyway"]
[edit 2: annoyance words, perhaps? "gah"
"meh"
"blah" and "bleh"--maybe all four of those count only as one--do you all think of them as really the same thing?]
[edit 3: "eep"
"meep"]

um too similar to hm? c'mon, someone. gimme some input.

maybe "to indicate emotion" isn't quite what i'm going for so much as "to replace other components of a face-to-face conversation." some of those substitute for tone of voice, some for facial expression...

Comments

[phineasjones.livejournal.com]

how about to replace visual gestures and non-word sounds?
and i would say that "um" implies pause, empty filler, hesitation over what next to say, while "hmmm" implies thought - a moment of pondering what was said (written).
$.02
phineas

[cimness.livejournal.com]

thanks. yeah. my last attempt was "to substitute for the non-verbal components of a conversation." also a good point about "um" and "hm"--i'm wondering if the spectrum of possible ways to interpret most of these words is too wide--much greater than for, say, any random words like "noise" and "sound" or "woman" and "lady."

[dantana.livejournal.com]

I was going to suggest my personal favourite *bangs head on desk repeatedly* but I see you're going for "to replace other components of a face-to-face conversation.", so I don't think that really works. Wish I could help you out here.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

hm. yeah. that's good. but it doesn't provide much liberty for the person hearing it in how to interpret it.

that makes me realize i don't really have much in the way of things to indicate frustration and annoyance up there. "gah" and "meh"--SO slangy, though. wonder if teacher would approve?

[ellen-fremedon.livejournal.com]

What about the whole spectrum of grins: , , , and so forth?

Or 'meep'?

For annoyance-- hrm. That's a little harder. I think people tend to indicate approval, sympathy, or joy a little more reflexively than they do negative emotions, for fear of insulting or unintentionally hurting someone, so there's probably not as wide a range of words/particles/whatever for that.