Note that this nonstandard pronoun, though it refers to the speaker/writer/user chatting, is third person, not first person. So, to take an example, I get out my pen, but /me gets out his pen; this is because it is generally replaced, when the first word in a command on IRC or in the chatterbox, by the username of the chatterer. Usually the message is also italicized (as here) or otherwise marked.

Note that the other third person pronoun in the sentence (his) still must agree with its antecedent, /me. If I were female, I would write "/me gets out her pen".

On IRC or in the chatterbox, something being said rather than "done" is generally placed in quotation marks when after a /me. Example:

/me fumbles around for the orange smoke in his backpack... "Aha! Here it is!"

I use this regularly both online and in face-to-face conversation.

premchai21 vanishes in a cloud of orange smoke

/me is yet another undocumented feature in the universal instant messaging client Trillian. In an IM conversation or chat on any medium (not just IRC), you can type "/me roXors" to display "* Twinxor roXors". This feature is part of Cerulean Studios' apparent plan to create the one true instant messenger, despite the fact that the standards for the official clients don't include features like this.

GAIM and kopete have implemented this as well. Thanks, ocelotbob.

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