A simple matter of…

We have all seen Internet shorthand adopted by the world at large. From acronymns such as [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Internet_slang#R ROTFL] through [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoticon smileys] and other usage such as \o/ (person with arms raised as a “yay!” sign) and “o/” (person waving hello/goodbye or for attention).

I think we now need to work on getting [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sed sed] syntax to be more widely adopted. The title of this post for example means to replace the words “I meant” with “this. This is typically used on instant messaging chats:

Alice: the meeting is at two
Alice: s/two/three/

most typically it is just to correct spelling:

Bob: were leaving for lunch
Bob: s/we/we'/

Granted that this isn’t useful in normal letters, but for instant communication it’s the equivalent of a double take, sometimes used as such:

Charlie: that bloke is such a prat
Charlie: s/prat/charming fellow/