From: Karl Williamson (public@khwilliamson.com)
Date: Sat Apr 02 2011 - 10:24:02 CST
On 04/02/2011 08:17 AM, Peter Constable wrote:
> Given the date of submission and the complete lack of justification for any use as characters, I'm guessing that the proposals for cards and hatches are intended as jokes.
>
> In case not, I consider encoding of characters for hatches to be an extremely bad idea: these are not characters but graphic fills, of which there are a vast number.
>
>
> Peter
>
>
>
The problem with satire is that too often people do not get the joke.
This is especially true in a short email, and the fact that many people
on this list do not share certain cultural and literary traditions.
In English, almost anything that says "Modest Proposal" is likely to be
meant to be satirical, given the infamy of the original writing of that
name by another Irishman, Jonathan Swift, who was (satirically)
suggesting cannibalism as a solution to the Irish poverty problems of
his day.
I don't know the extent of the April Fool's day tradition; it is
widespread in those areas still under some sway of the British. Any
outlandish idea espoused on that day by a an Engish speaker should be
suspect. Mr. Everson gave another clue in his email when he said "Enjoy
the day everyone."
I was taken in by an April Fool's day joke this year because the sender
happened to be in Taipei, so while he sent the email on his April 1, I
got it on my March 31. It wasn't until I woke up the next morning
realizing it was now April 1 that I realized what was up.
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