Over at the FS&G blog, Best Words Best Order, I listened to poetry ringtones, including one recorded by former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky. I would be embarrassed to have his growled ringtone going off in my purse in the dressing room at Nordstrom, though I admit I would feel fine in the same situation at the hearing Paul Muldoon's alluring Irish brogue. But where is Louise Gluck's poetry ringtone? Naomi Shihab Nye's? Is this just a guy thing? Would the women poets be too wordy?
I would stop my hectic day to listen to a long, complicated ringtone from Billy Collins.
****
Modern life has killed the semi-colon, Slate opines. The April Fool's hoax that started the discussion was to me less entertaining than the question of what the semi-colon can do that the dash cannot. But if the disappearing semi-colon perturbs you, check this out:
wuzup
n2m
well g/g c ya
If you can't read the above, you are in much bigger trouble than any semi-colon can fix. I can find a place where you download a ringtone of online-speak so you can practice. Or maybe you'd just like a text-message ringtone?