Postscript
A postscript ( Latin postscriptum , participle of the verb postscribere ' write down ') is an appendix to a text. It is often used in letters or similar forms of communication such as email or Usenet . In front of the text of the postscript there is the abbreviation PS with a colon .
German names for the postscript are Postscript and Postscript . The abbreviation NS used to introduce the postscript is no longer common today and has largely been replaced by PS .
The opposite term is the prescript , it stands for a formulaic phrase as an introduction to the beginning of ancient letters, i.e. before the actual content of the letter.
history
purpose
The postscript comes from the time of the letters, when everything was written by hand. It had the advantage that by forgetting an important part not everything had to be rewritten, but you could simply append it. In the age of e-mail communication, however, it is mainly used to attach a message that has nothing to do with the actual topic and is of a rather secondary nature.
signature
The signature was originally always under the actual text (i.e. before the postscript). After the postscript, either only the initials were noted or the abbreviation d. O. (the above) was used, alternatively the abbreviation D. S. (for Latin deinde scriptum , i.e. "subsequently written [by the same author]").
Today the signature is handled differently. Often a postscript is no longer signed at all because it is clear that it comes from the same author as the previous text. The signature can also appear after the postscript, so that it is less clearly separated from the main part of the text.
Many contributions come together on discussion pages on the Internet, the position of which the authors can often determine themselves. It can then make sense to sign a post with a postscript with the user name at the very end so that it is clear who wrote the text (including postscript). The origin of such a contribution becomes even clearer if the user signs off both the main contribution and the postscript with his signature; this solution is useful if the user only subsequently appends the postscript to a previously published post.
Notation
To identify an attachment, postscripts are rarely written in full (the tender is usually used in books). According to Duden, the correct abbreviation is PS (without dots).
A colon is usually placed after the abbreviation PS , followed by the text of the postscript. For example:
PS: Ich bin nächste Woche nicht erreichbar.
Multiple use
For further postscripts, add another P in front of each:
- first postscript: PS
- second postscript: PPS
- third postscript: PPPS
Different word meaning
In some (specialist) journals , the last article is referred to as a postscript .
Individual evidence
- ^ Duden online: Postscript