Librarians Quote by Marilyn Johnson
““Yes, librarians use punctuation marks to make little emoticons, smiley and frowny faces in their correspondence, but if there were one for an ironic wink, or a sarcastic lip curl, they'd wear it out.””
About This Quote
Source Book: Book Lovers: The Intellectual Power of Reading, 2016
Librarians creatively use punctuation to convey emotions, but some nuanced feelings lack a simple symbol.
In simple terms: Punctuation can express feelings, yet some emotions are hard to symbolize.
Key Takeaway
Consider new ways to convey subtle emotions.
Themes
creativity
communication
emotion
Mood
playful
thoughtful
Type
observational
humorous
When to use this quote
- email writing
- social media posts
- chat messages
- design of emojis
Key Concepts
semiotics
visual language
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we design symbols for nuanced emotions?
- What limits do we face with textual emoticons?
A Different Perspective
Punctuation alone may not capture complex sarcasm.
![“[Mary Wortley Montagu] wrote more letters, with fewer punctuation marks, than any Englishwoman of her day; and her nephew, the fourth Baron Rokeby, nearly blinded himself in deciphering the two volumes of undated correspondence which were printed in 1810. Two more followed in 1813, after which the…” quote by Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b2b/agnes-repplier-1850_benefits_mary-wortley-montagu-wrote-more-letters_1332253.jpg)
