Type your message and click the Send button.

⻬ Don’t forget that all the rules of social etiquette and office decorum apply to e-mail, too. If you wouldn’t pick up the phone and call the CEO of the company, don’t send him or her e-mail, either. ⻬ When you reply to someone else’s e-mail, keep in mind that the person you’re replying to may not remember the details of the message that he or she sent to you. Providing some context for your reply is polite. Most e-mail systems including Outlook do this for you by automatically tack- ing on the original message at the end of the reply. If yours doesn’t do this, be sure to provide some context, such as including a relevant snip- pet of the original message in quotation marks, so that the recipient knows what you’re talking about. ⻬ E-mail doesn’t have the advantage of voice inflections. This limitation can lead to all kinds of misunderstandings. You have to make sure that people know when you’re joking and when you mean it. E-mail nerds fig- ured that out decades ago and developed a handy way to indicate tone of voice by using strings of symbols called smileys. Table 5-1 shows a few of the more commonly used or abused smileys. Table 5-1 Commonly Used and Abused Smileys Smiley What It Means :- Just kidding ;- Wink :- Bummer :-O Well, I never :-x My lips are sealed. If you don’t get it, tilt your head to the left and look at the smiley sideways. ⻬ E-mail nerds also like to use shorthand abbreviations for common words and phrases, like FYI for “For Your Information” and that old corporate favorite ASAP for “As Soon As Possible”. Table 5-2 lists some common ones. Table 5-2 Common E-mail Abbreviations Abbreviation What It Stands For BTW By the Way FWIW For What It’s Worth IMO In My Opinion 58 Part I: Getting Started with Networking Abbreviation What It Stands For IMHO In My Humble Opinion IOW In Other Words PMJI Pardon Me for Jumping In ROFL Rolling on the Floor, Laughing ROFL,PP Rolling on the Floor Laughing, Peeing My Pants TIA Thanks in Advance TTFN Ta Ta for Now quoting Tigger TTYL Talk to You Later g Grin bg Big Grin vbg Very Big Grin Note that the abbreviations referring to gestures or facial expressions are typed between a less-than sign and a greater-than sign: g. Other gestures are spelled out, like sniff, groan, or sigh. ⻬ You’re not able to italicize or underline text on many e-mail programs although you can do so in Exchange, Outlook, or Outlook Express. Type an asterisk before and after a word you wish you could italicize. Type an underscore _before_ and _after_ a word that you’d like to underline. Be aware that if you do use italics, underlining, or any other formatting features that are available in Exchange, Outlook, or Outlook Express, the people receiving your mail may not be able to see the formatting if they’re using other e-mail programs. ⻬ Capital letters are the electronic equivalent of SHOUTING TYPING AN ENTIRE MESSAGE IN CAPITAL LETTERS CAN BE VERY ANNOYING AND CAN CAUSE YOU TO GET THE ELECTRONIC EQUIVALENT OF LARYNGITIS. ⻬ Don’t be gullible about hoaxes and chain letters. If you receive an e-mail with a warning about some new virus that wipes out your hard drive if you sneeze near your computer or an e-mail that claims that you’ll make eleven billion dollars if you forward the message to ten of your best friends, just delete the e-mail. Don’t forward it. ⻬ Frequently sending e-mail with large attachments can be annoying. 59

Chapter 5: Mr. McFeeley’s Guide to E-mail