4 ms·

I think one of Markdown's biggest mistake was making `*` and `_` interchangeable. It should have been `*bold*` and `_italics_` from the beginning.

• m-p-3 2y ago
  I agree with you on that. What about * for bold, / for italic and _ for underline?
  • ysavir 2y ago
    / is too commonly used, such as when making a list of replacements/alternatives/synonyms. It works fine when it's just the text as written, but if it was parsing and turned that list to replacementsalternativessynonyms, it would only be getting in the way.
    • adrian_b 2y ago
      True. Perhaps //italic text// would be acceptable.
      • account42 2y ago
        // is common in URIs.
    • bmacho 2y ago
      You shouldn't parse '/' in foo/bar/baz or in foo / bar / baz. If people want to make foo or foo bar italic, they write /foo/ and /foo bar/.
• jgruber 2y ago
  I have no regrets on this one. I thought people would use both, and people do use both.
• bmacho 2y ago
  HN uses *italics*. I, myself, prefer /italics/, _underline_ and _bold_ in text, if there is no formatting. I feel that these 2 are the least arbitrary, they almost work without agreeing on their meaning beforehand.