Anybody who frequently communicates electronically (adv.用電子方式) probably knows how easily an email (n.電郵) or text message (n.短訊) can be misconstrued (v.誤會), especially when it comes to (v.關於) sarcasm (n.諷刺). Well, the creators of the SarcMark (n.“諷刺號”), a new punctuation (n.標點) mark (n.符號) designed to denote (v.表示) sarcasm, hope to put an end to such email confusion forever.
      The SarcMark, which looks like a period (n.句號) with a little curl (n.曲) surrounding it, is meant to be used at the end of a sentence in the same way as one might use an exclamation (n.感歎) mark to denote excitement, or a question mark to denote a question.
      The SarcMark comes in two forms: the font (n.字體) version (n.形式) (which will only be visible (adj.看到的) to other users who have downloaded (v.下載) the SarcMark), and the image (n.圖像) version (which will be visible to all).
      The SarcMark can be downloaded for only $1.99. That might seem like a lot to pay for a period on steroids (n.類固醇), but think about it this way: You'll never again have to worry about someone taking a sarcastic (adj.諷刺的) remark you made literally (adv.真正地). Of course, part of the point of sarcasm is its subtlety (n.隱晦) ... but that's hard to do on the Internet (n.互聯網).
(PCWorld.com, January 15)

      經常用電子方式通信的人，大概都知道電郵或短訊如何容易引起誤會，尤其當它涉及諷刺。嗯，“諷刺號”（用作表示諷刺的標點符號）發明者，便是希望把這種混亂的電郵情況永遠消滅。
      “諷刺號”的樣子是一條曲線環繞一個句號，用於一個句子末端，就像我們用感歎號表示興奮心情，或用問號表示問題一樣。
      “諷刺號”有兩種形式：字體形式（其他用戶必須下載“諷刺號”才會看到），和圖像形式（任何人都可看到）。
      “諷刺號”的下載費用是1.99美元。支付一個服了類固醇的句號，似乎十分昂貴，但閣下可這麼想：從此，你不用再擔心有人會把你的諷刺話當作真話看待。當然，諷刺話的一大精髓在於隱晦……但這點在網上難以做到。
（PCWorld.com，1月15日）