Dear copyeditors and grammar geeks -
A reader emailed me this week with a suggestion for a subject to blog. After I wrote a polite negative reply, I added a "p.s." after my signature with a thought about something else. He acknowledged my reply, and added this comment "Ps. Postscripts in a digital age seem a bit anachronistic, no?"
That really got me thinking. Postscripts ("after-writing") were common devices in the early centuries of letter writing, when insertion of additional material into the body of the letter was impractical. Now, even the most rudimentary communications systems allow one to scroll up to insert new thoughts above the signature or closure.
But I still use them in correspondence. For the blog I use "addenda" and "updates" to clarify that material has been added at some time period beyond the original posting of the content - but that's different. In an email there is no technical need to say "p.s.", but when I have other comments or thoughts that are only marginally related to the subject matter of the email, I postscript them.
Am I being anachronistic? Not that it really matters, of course, but I'm wondering about it.
Sincerely,
Stan
p.s. - I do appreciate reader suggestions re subject matter for posts, but I essentially always decline because I'm so swamped with material for the blog; the next reader-submitted topic that I plan to write up is from an email I received in March of last year! (about the Lewis and Clark expedition).
As a designer, I have to deal with this type of question every day. You should see the looks I get (from anyone under the age of, say, 45) when I refer to the "recto" or "verso" of anything. Ha!
ReplyDeleteI have Ibid issues. When I was taught writing oh say 20+ years ago, the prevalent technology was the the typesetter, in those days the rule was that you could only use ibid if the citation was directly above on the same page. Now, the rule (and no I don't know when it changed) allows for ibid across page breaks. I have wasted so much time on my ibid issues as I keep forgetting the new rules. So Minnesotan you are not alone.
ReplyDeleteI think that while it's easy to edit the body of a text to add some information that just popped into your head, sometimes its more effort than its worth? To figure out which paragraph it belongs in, and to make it fit, etc. It's easier just to stick it at the end.
ReplyDeleteA bit atavistic maybe, but I don't see a problem.
Interesting if other languages have a similar device? (I assume p.s. exists in European languages, but what about Japanese?)
Postscript is so pre-internet. It's pretty much PDF now.
ReplyDeletep.s. That was a joke
p.p.s. I was really excited as a kid to learn about the possibilities of additional "p." prefixes for a post script.
Post-script statements keep old perspectives (and their inaccuracies) from falling down the memory hole, so I guess it depends which side of THAT line you're on, eh?
ReplyDeleteI don't know if its anachronistic but marketing wise everything I've read says that people always read the p.s. so it a good place to put info in a news letter.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes include important reminders in PS when writing emails. Usually people see it as a separate section/paragraph and tend to read it.
ReplyDeletePS: I appreciate the wide variety of topics that you post on this blog!
I think "btw" is the digital form of "P.S."
ReplyDelete"but when I have other comments or thoughts that are only marginally related to the subject matter of the email"
ReplyDeleteI'm completely with you. I think it's an effective way to change the subject. (But then, I am also of the generation raised on handwritten everything. Didn't get a typewriter until after college...)
P.S. I'm finding the blogspot 'prove you're a human' words more difficult to decode lately.
Meaning that you're becoming less human ???
Delete@Minnesotastan - Meaning that the humans who program the "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart" are adjusting their programmatic deformation of characters to the extent that humans are no longer capable of proving their humanity to other humans vis-a-vis computers.
DeleteWe may not have jetpacks yet, but the future continues to prove itself to be more ridiculous than anyone could have imagined.
Thank you Z. Constantine - that is what I meant: 'they' are making them more difficult for me to decipher...but I giggled at your question, Stan. I totally missed that reading when I wrote it. Just goes to show how valuable (human)proof-readers are.
DeleteI tend to use P.S. for either additional information that doesn't really fit into the main body of the letter, or if I want to address something in particular to one individual when the main emphasis of the letter has been more general.
ReplyDeleteI concur with the pro-P.S. statements above. Even in e-mail, I tend to look for any post-script when I do an initial scan because that, as noted, often contains the most important point.
ReplyDeleteSuggestion: If you've added a P.S. and want to know whether you should move it up into the body of the email, read the email aloud. If the P.S. sounds better after the signature, leave it there. I'm not kidding--you'll find there's a difference in how it sounds, in the "music" the words make, that will tell you whether it's appropriate to use a P.S.
ReplyDeleteAnother vote in favor of postscripts! Who could be so humorless and dour as to speak against them? Postscripts are often where the most interesting parts of a letter can be found...especially if it's a love letter.
ReplyDeleteI've been writing letters for about 45 years, and have written more letters on paper than I could ever admit. The style developed then still hangs with me. A P.S. in an email works when you've thought of something of a different subject to pass on (like a BTW), or else you want to convey the idea of a thought that just dawned on you.
ReplyDeleteI even use a P.S. in a blog post occasionally.
I tend to compose emails instead of just tapping them out. If I have some thought AFTER I've written the body of the message, postscripts are the way to go. Otherwise, I'd have to waste time going back and writing that bit in there so it fits! If we're considering demographics here, I am young but not "net native" young.
ReplyDelete