CSI: A popular television programme now, but at the time in late 2004 I’d not had the occasion to watch it. Had I access to the type of forensic tools they use, I’ve no doubt I could have solved the mystery of Doug’s real identity in much less time. No, all I had to go on were numerous examples of prose, a range of facts he’d shared about himself – some of clearly doubtful veracity, the rest still undetermined and the posts he’d made under his “irritated” moniker on ILW.
I began to analyse the language to identify the attitude of the author. Was a distinct personality demonstrated in the writing? And as to syntax ~ were sentences long or short; abstract or concrete? I evaluated the diction ~ at times it was pedantic and satirical, and the pragmatics direct in postsmessage boardageboard. In our emails, the general writing style was much more relaxed and sensuous, but cutting edge and hip. I suspected that although he was in his 40s, by reference to events that occurred during that time frame, he was also exposed to Generation X.
It was at this time that I wish IÂ’d been more familiar with dialect geography, lexicography, and sociolinguistics. What I did note was the spelling was very accurate, punctuation well used and range of vocabulary he selected suggested he was very learned. Sometimes it is possible to determine clues to a writer's origin from the expressions used or references to things, places or events indigenous to the area in which he lived. Doug had made many in our conversations to the upstate New York area, yet his dialect in voice chat bore no signs of a New York accent. He was fluent in cross-cultural word usage, and often had spelled things in the British manner, and knew, intuitively, some of the turns of phrase that were commonplace in my repertoire. I thought, initially, this was done for my benefit, as despite three decades here in the USA, I have yet to shrug some traditional "Britishisms". Perhaps this was a habit he had difficulty in disguising.
Could it be that he too was originally from the United Kingdom, or perhaps a former member country of the Commonwealth? His occasional use of a french word, with accents grave and aigu competently placed on the correct syllable and in the correct direction, lead me to believe he was either fluent in French or exposed to French. Quite possibly, another explanation was that he may have hailed from a province in Canada. In summary, I was gaining more insight into Doug's possible roots and environment, but more crucial was that the more I examined DougÂ’s style, the more this other regular ILW memberÂ’s writing style began to match.
Knowing that Doug had access to the Internet, after all, and that most likely he was still using Yahoo messenger, yet wishing to encourage him to just be himself with me, I sent a quick Yahoo instant message to Doug for the first time in 9 months.
The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white. Neither need you do anything but be yourself. ~ Lao Tzu
I waited for a response, hopeful that heÂ’d be able to resume our friendship, and this time without the need for intrigue or masks.
Yes, indeed, by the first week of December 2004, I arrived at the conclusion that Doug was still quite active on ILW, but using another ID. But why? And who was this person?
I began to analyse the language to identify the attitude of the author. Was a distinct personality demonstrated in the writing? And as to syntax ~ were sentences long or short; abstract or concrete? I evaluated the diction ~ at times it was pedantic and satirical, and the pragmatics direct in postsmessage boardageboard. In our emails, the general writing style was much more relaxed and sensuous, but cutting edge and hip. I suspected that although he was in his 40s, by reference to events that occurred during that time frame, he was also exposed to Generation X.
It was at this time that I wish IÂ’d been more familiar with dialect geography, lexicography, and sociolinguistics. What I did note was the spelling was very accurate, punctuation well used and range of vocabulary he selected suggested he was very learned. Sometimes it is possible to determine clues to a writer's origin from the expressions used or references to things, places or events indigenous to the area in which he lived. Doug had made many in our conversations to the upstate New York area, yet his dialect in voice chat bore no signs of a New York accent. He was fluent in cross-cultural word usage, and often had spelled things in the British manner, and knew, intuitively, some of the turns of phrase that were commonplace in my repertoire. I thought, initially, this was done for my benefit, as despite three decades here in the USA, I have yet to shrug some traditional "Britishisms". Perhaps this was a habit he had difficulty in disguising.
Could it be that he too was originally from the United Kingdom, or perhaps a former member country of the Commonwealth? His occasional use of a french word, with accents grave and aigu competently placed on the correct syllable and in the correct direction, lead me to believe he was either fluent in French or exposed to French. Quite possibly, another explanation was that he may have hailed from a province in Canada. In summary, I was gaining more insight into Doug's possible roots and environment, but more crucial was that the more I examined DougÂ’s style, the more this other regular ILW memberÂ’s writing style began to match.
Knowing that Doug had access to the Internet, after all, and that most likely he was still using Yahoo messenger, yet wishing to encourage him to just be himself with me, I sent a quick Yahoo instant message to Doug for the first time in 9 months.
The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white. Neither need you do anything but be yourself. ~ Lao Tzu
I waited for a response, hopeful that heÂ’d be able to resume our friendship, and this time without the need for intrigue or masks.
Yes, indeed, by the first week of December 2004, I arrived at the conclusion that Doug was still quite active on ILW, but using another ID. But why? And who was this person?
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