Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2020 April 28

= April 28 =

Classic Peanuts: what does S/w mean?
In a recent Classic Peanuts strip: Woodstock is typing as Snoopy dictates. "Kindest regards, Snoopy S/w". Snoopy walks away and Woodstock adds "Dictated but not read".

What does the "S/w" mean?

Thank you, RJFJR (talk) 21:44, 28 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Snoopy/Woodstock, meaning typed by Woodstock for Snoopy. Meters (talk) 21:55, 28 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Yes, this is how it used to be done when typing was considered a menial task that the boss should not waste his time on, but should have a secretary to do it. Normally the notation would show the full initials of boss and secretary, like RMN/rmw, but Snoopy and Woodstock both have one-word full names, so in their case it's just S/w.  If the boss didn't bother checking the typed letter for correctness, the secretary might add "Dictated but not read". --76.71.6.31 (talk) 22:20, 28 April 2020 (UTC)
 * [17-joke gap] —Tamfang (talk) 01:14, 29 April 2020 (UTC)
 * ??? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 03:14, 29 April 2020 (UTC)
 * He means he recognized the initials I used in my example. --76.71.6.31 (talk) 06:42, 30 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Very good. :) And, fittingly, the cartoon was dated near the time when Nixon started firing people as the scandal heated up. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 11:17, 30 April 2020 (UTC)


 * Hm, I was taught to use a colon for that; a slash would mean signed by Woodstock with authority delegated from Snoopy, possibly without Snoopy's specific knowledge. —Tamfang (talk) 00:52, 29 April 2020 (UTC)
 * How to Indicate a Typist's Initials in a Letter says: "Type the initials of the letter writer in capital letters, followed by a slash or colon. Add the typist’s initials in lowercase letters. For example, if the letter writer's name is Andrew Benson, and the typist's name is Carrie Dale, the typist line should appear as follows: AB/cd, or AB:cd". Alansplodge (talk) 12:01, 29 April 2020 (UTC)


 * I googled "Woodstock dictated but not read", and it found the cartoon, which was originally dated April 27, 1973. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 03:14, 29 April 2020 (UTC)
 * More directly —Tamfang (talk) 02:26, 2 May 2020 (UTC)