This is making me notice that I wouldn’t say why and y the same: I’d say ‘why?’ with a descending tone, and ‘y?’ with a rising tone. I think the difference comes down to whether I’m asking for an explanation or for clarification. I don’t think I’d ever paid attention to that kind of distinction in speech before.

It’s a reference to games like Fortnite which have little animations your character can perform, called ‘emotes’, often triggered by players after killing an enemy

What you actually mean when you say ‘I assume people are smart enough’ is ‘I expect people to make the same assumptions as me’. People come from very different contexts. You can either drop that wall of qualifiers and be understood by most, or skip it and only have a few get your point. It sounds like you know why you’re being misinterpreted and, for whatever reason, want to keep it that way.

‘Historical’ rules? ‘Traditional’ requirements? The fuck is up with this word choice? This article’s making it sound like those are some quaint old family traditions.

Fair, good on ya!

Sometimes when I’m biking I force myself to breathe through my nose for a while to dry out a runny nose. If I’m going kind of hard I end up with this look on my face like I’m holding back tears, mouth pinched shut, breathing hard and covered in sweat, and I get self conscious about what other people must be thinking about the scary dude trying to exercise his feelings away.

Rock doves (pigeons) evolved to live on cliff faces. Cities are covered in artificial cliff faces, i.e. buildings.

Chaaarleeeeey