Why do people post "."?

October 4, 2005 8:42 PM

What exactly is the . in people's replies? I used to ignore them, but when I saw a dozen or so in the Nipsey Russell thread I just had to know...
posted by andreaazure to MetaFilter-Related at 8:42 PM (30 comments total)

This question keeps coming up.

I would have pointed you to the Wiki for the answer, but it's not working.

Most take its meaning as a moment of silence.
posted by jazon at 8:50 PM on October 4, 2005

Here's the Wiki page.
posted by dhruva at 8:54 PM on October 4, 2005

or the equivalent of a pebble on a tombstone.
posted by amberglow at 8:57 PM on October 4, 2005

This certainly isn't the original reason for the ".", but after watching the end credits of Schindler's List I have always seen it in the light of the Jewish tradition of placing a pebble on a person's gravestone.
posted by Guy Smiley at 8:58 PM on October 4, 2005

(cough) er, what amberglow said.
posted by Guy Smiley at 8:59 PM on October 4, 2005

: >
posted by amberglow at 8:59 PM on October 4, 2005

What XQUZYPHYR said.
posted by keswick at 9:02 PM on October 4, 2005

There's another new member signing up every few minutes:
Elvis will never leave this building.
posted by y2karl at 9:02 PM on October 4, 2005

*bangs head against wall repeatedly*
posted by dg at 9:03 PM on October 4, 2005

*takes a shot*
posted by interrobang at 9:03 PM on October 4, 2005

It means: Thank you and Good Night 4-evar!
posted by Jikido at 9:06 PM on October 4, 2005

*goes ssj*
posted by Optimus Chyme at 9:06 PM on October 4, 2005

*scrapes yet another tally mark into the wall by the computer*
posted by Jon-o at 9:07 PM on October 4, 2005

JESUS GOD.
posted by Colloquial Collision at 9:07 PM on October 4, 2005

,
posted by 31d1 at 9:11 PM on October 4, 2005

JESUS GOD.

and then some....
posted by Jikido at 9:11 PM on October 4, 2005

Now, now, no need for so much distress. Matt could well copy the canonical explanation to the new user registration feedback page and all pain would go away. Or just the link. Or even insert a warning - "And by the way, no matter what you do, don't ask about the dot".
posted by nkyad at 9:16 PM on October 4, 2005

Is it that hard to figure out?
posted by SAC at 9:21 PM on October 4, 2005

How does someone who's been a member for a year and a half not know that?
posted by dersins at 9:24 PM on October 4, 2005

hey guys, will someone explain this via inline text? my 28K modem loads pages really slow.

--Todd Lokken
posted by Hat Maui at 9:26 PM on October 4, 2005

It's really pretty obvious if you bother to think about it. Nonetheless, I imagine it's difficult searching the Metatalk archives for the answer...searching for a "." is bound to cause problems.
posted by Jimbob at 9:28 PM on October 4, 2005

i ate a bee.
posted by Krrrlson at 9:31 PM on October 4, 2005

bees are poisonous.

--n
posted by neckro23 at 9:33 PM on October 4, 2005

!
posted by Krrrlson at 9:34 PM on October 4, 2005

?
posted by dersins at 9:35 PM on October 4, 2005

‽
posted by interrobang at 9:36 PM on October 4, 2005

Is the period just not searchable? This explanation is begging for its own place on the sidebar.
posted by scarabic at 9:38 PM on October 4, 2005

.
posted by interrobang at 9:40 PM on October 4, 2005

I kinda figured it out after seeing it once or twice. I mean, WTF else could it possibly mean??????
posted by Edible Energy at 9:41 PM on October 4, 2005

in lieu of a sidebar entry (which would probably be ignored) how about a little bit o' code that could identify "[space].[space]" in a MetaTalk post submission and offer some message like "if you're asking about the . people post, it means this."

I know... new code... but this is getting ridiculous.
posted by scarabic at 9:49 PM on October 4, 2005