Mastodawn

I had fun talking to Ian Chillag, Mike Danforth and Schuyler Swenson for an episode of NPR′s “How To Do Everything” in which they tried to answer a question from a listener called Autumn′s Hope. No, that isn′t a typo, and yes, the apostrophe is the key! Have a listen here: https://www.npr.org/2026/03/04/nx-s1-5725298/the-breakfast-rule

Shady Characters Feb 20

I've been working on a non-WordPress version of the Shady Characters blog for a while now, and I'd love to get your feedback on it. There's a preview at https://staging.shadycharacters.co.uk; if you find anything unexpected, please leave a comment here or at https://shadycharacters.co.uk/2026/02/new-shady-characters-site/. Thanks!

Colophon

Shady Characters Feb 20

Mignon Fogarty Feb 19

Did you know people were using capital letters to shout in print as far back as 1856?

This week, I talked with Mastodon's very own technology historian, @glennf, who traced the history of "shouty caps" through centuries of newspapers, old Usenet posts, and even German dialect jokes.

There's also fascinating stuff about typesetters and costs. Check it out!

WATCH: https://youtu.be/ygyknQ3IDUo?si=FxyNRgCHEsO-uzus
READ: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/1161/transcript
LISTEN: https://pod.link/173429229

Shady Characters Feb 14

Show thread

David Belson Feb 13

@Natasha_Jay Go even further down the rabbit hole: https://shadycharacters.co.uk/books/face-with-tears-of-joy/ by @shadychars

Face with Tears of Joy: A Natural History of Emoji – Shady Characters

Shady Characters Feb 13

RE: https://zeppelin.flights/@glennf/116064884496960912

Glenn is endlessly knowledgeable about printing. This will be good!

Shady Characters Feb 8

3D printing is cool. 3D printing in the nineteenth century? Even better. Computerised 3D printing with 19th-century hardware? 😎 Read about two different approaches to modernising the Monotype system in the Shady Characters archive: https://shadycharacters.co.uk/2012/06/shiny-characters/ and https://shadycharacters.co.uk/2013/11/hand-eye/.

Shady Characters Feb 5

RE: https://zirk.us/@grammargirl/116019197951799080

Apropos of this! https://mastodon.social/@shadychars/116014412681866474

Shady Characters Feb 4

On @99percentinvisible again! This time round I spoke to Will Aspinall about the history of the storied em dash (‘—′, that is, rather than ‘–′ or ‘-′, but you knew that). Listen at https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/658-the-em-dash/, or read my own earlier piece on AI and the em dash at https://shadycharacters.co.uk/2025/08/the-dash-for-ai/.

The Em Dash - 99% Invisible

Last summer, Bryan Vance found himself in an argument with a stranger on Reddit. Vance, a Portland-based journalist who runs Stumptown Savings, a newsletter covering local grocery deals, had been accused of using ChatGPT to write his content. The evidence? His use of em dashes. “A Reddit user accused me of using AI, pointing to

99% Invisible

Shady Characters Jan 16

Some new year's resolutions for me and for Shady Characters, up now at the blog: https://shadycharacters.co.uk/2026/01/new-years-resolutions/.

New year’s resolutions – Shady Characters

Shady Characters Dec 23

Day 10, and it's the final day of the 2025 Shady Characters advent calendar. Thank you for sticking with me! And on the subject of gratitude, here's my final post for the year, on PERSON WITH FOLDED HANDS (🙏): https://shadycharacters.co.uk/2025/12/advent-calendar-2025-person-with-folded-hands/.

Check out https://shadycharacters.co.uk/series/2025-advent-calendar/ for all previous entries!

Blog	https://shadycharacters.co.uk
Facebook	https://facebook.com/shadychars
Instagram	https://instagram.com/shadychars

Colophon

Face with Tears of Joy: A Natural History of Emoji – Shady Characters

The Em Dash - 99% Invisible

New year’s resolutions – Shady Characters

Shady Char­ac­ters advent calendar 2025: PERSON WITH FOLDED HANDS – Shady Characters

Shady Characters advent calendar 2025: PERSON WITH FOLDED HANDS – Shady Characters