Dumb question: Why do people uses asterisks here instead of quotes?

[ddeclue]

As in *W* or *now*....

Why not "W" or "now"?

Just curious...

[greguganus]

1. Maybe to put emphasis on the word instead of typing it in caps? n/t

[Barack_America]

2. It's for emphasis rather than to indicate a quotation.

At least that's why I do it.

[greguganus]

3. Beat ya! n/t

[Barack_America]

5. *Congrats*

;)

[greguganus]

11. *Can I have a cookie?* n/t

[ddeclue]

4. But that's not grammatically correct... quotations are used to emphasize as well as to quote.

I've never seen asterisks used in this manner outside of the internet.

[Barack_America]

6. True. Beyond emphasis, the asterisks often suggested intended sarcasm or snark.

And we know that the internet is for snark (at least the bits that aren't for porn).

[camera obscura]

7. Quotation marks aren't meant to be used that way. See this blog:

http://quotation-marks.blogspot.com/

[Greyskye]

9. leftover from pre-html days

Back in the days long ago before we had fancy ways of emphasizing words on the internet, it was very common to use *asterisks* for emphasis. It's the fast & lazy way these days of emphasizing something without it being mistaken for something being quoted.

And frankly, the little voice in my head pronounces words differently when these two methods of "emphasis" are added.

But then again the little voice in my head is nuts. Just don't tell *him* that. :evilgrin:

[Teaser]

10. old usenet/bbs tradition

I think they were just more noticeable than quotes in some fonts, in the old days.

[ElboRuum]

13. Incorrect.

While the use of asterisks is pretty much limited to teh internetz and, as you mentioned, is not grammatically correct, neither is it grammatically correct when quotes are used for emphasis no matter where it has been seen.

Some valid uses:

Direct quotes of someone else's statements.
Indication of colloquial parlance where it may be unfamiliar to many readers.
Indication of usage of words in a satirical, parodic, or sarcastic pose.
Offsetting the title of generally any form of artwork other than a book.

The quotes used for emphasis ONLY finds a reasonable home on the internet where the ability to underline, italicize, and boldface may not be universally available (rare these days). Additionally, to engage the appropriate methods of emphasis often requires a basic knowledge of HTML tags and the desire to use them. Both are rare given your average poster to most comment or discussion systems.

[lame54]

8. I thought the asterisk stood for...

not really the president

like Roger Maris home-run record

except in Bush's case - it fits

[NashVegas]

12. Asterisks Are Leftover Usenetiquette for Me

Where it was impossible to bold or italicize (pre-Google or Deja) and USING ALL CAPS was considered obnoxious and rude.

[Samantha]

14. Here you go -- and it is not a dumb question

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=788095&mesg_id=792190

Sam

PS I will still put that asterisk after the Bush* name even after he leaves office!

[Igel]

15. There's another bit of old Internet usage you may run across.

Not only do *...* emphasize and take the place of italics or boldface (in that use), but in some older scholarly kinds of things you'd want to set off things like _titles_, where good usage has them italicized or underlined.

I still do it. I prefer non-HTML e-mail, and while I use the faux HTML on DU from time to time, * and _ are just faster.