#>.<% >?.>%
WRITE LESS, MEAN MORE
Two Talk is a semantic shorthand for capturing information quickly and consistently. Designed for notes, logs, meeting minutes, project tracking, and technical documentation, it is minimal, plaintext, keyboard-first, and natively searchable.
The system is built from three simple ideas: 9 core symbols combine to form 81 semantic primes, which can be compounded with dots to express increasingly specific concepts. Rather than writing full sentences, you write structured meaning - creating notes that are compact, deterministic, and easy for both people and computers to read.
Modern work generates an endless stream of meetings, tasks, ideas, decisions, and project updates. Capturing that information quickly without losing important context is surprisingly difficult. Full sentences take time to write, are inconsistent in style, and become increasingly difficult to scan or search as notes accumulate.
Two Talk was created as a concise semantic notation system for high-speed note taking. Instead of recording prose, it records meaning. The result is a concise, structured format that is fast to type, easy to skim, and simple to process by both humans and software.
!> Keyboard-first
Optimized for rapid note taking in editors, terminals, and command-line workflows.
#^ Plaintext forever
Uses only standard ASCII characters, so files work on every operating system and remain readable for decades. No proprietary formats. No vendor lock-in.
?@ Searchable by design
Consistent semantics make notes easier to filter, index, and retrieve than free-form prose.
?^ AI-friendly
Structured meaning makes Two Talk well suited to semantic search, automation, and AI-assisted workflows.
%> Built to scale
A small set of semantic building blocks combines to express thousands of ideas while remaining compact and predictable.
Two Talk is a compact semantic notation for notes, logs, meetings, tasks, and project tracking. Built from just nine core symbols, it lets you capture structured meaning in plain text that is fast to write, easy to search, and readable by both humans and AI.
Each symbol stands for one basic category of meaning. These 9 categories are the building blocks - pair any two together and you get a predictable, consistent meaning.
The grid shows what every two-symbol combination means. To read it: find the first symbol in the left column, and the second symbol along the top row. Where they meet is the meaning.
Order: Write left to right: who → what →
when. Words modify each other from left to right. e.g.
@!.>@ @? :# = I communicated to you right
now, and !: #!.^? = broken software.
Topics: Start a line with
## to set the subject or context. e.g.
## @% IBM 2026-05-31
= tracking this organisation.
Sentences: Each line is its own sentence.
Negation: Add .<! after a
pair to negate it. e.g. >!.<! = no action
/ blocked. To negate a longer statement, break it into
spaced words and place <! as a standalone
word - e.g. @! >: <! @% #^ = I will not
contact this group.
Questions: Start with >? to
ask a question. e.g. >?.@% LG
>^ :#
= Is the legal team still waiting?
Tense: :< = past,
:> = future, :# = now. For
something ongoing, compound :: - e.g.
>!.:: = process still running. Leave tense
out when it's obvious from context.
Literals: Use plain numbers for amounts
(5), dates as YYYY-MM-DD
(2025-04-14), times in 24hr
(1430), and use initials for names and entities
(JN, LG).
Speech: Two Talk is primarily written
however each symbol has a spoken sound -
@ (An), # (Ob),
! (Ve), ? (Mo),
> (Ak), < (Li),
: (Ti), ^ (Sa),
% (Me).
Compounding lets you stack symbols together to note more
specific meaning. Use dots (.) to join up to three pairs
together:
XX.XX.XX. Each pair modifies the one directly
preceding it.
@#
human + object
@#
human + object
^?
place + idea
#!
object + force
#!
object + force
^?
place + idea
#!
object + force
^?
place + idea
!:
force + time
Every double and triple compound following this pattern is
generated live from the 81 semantic primes below - there's
no fixed compound dictionary to browse, just
81 × 81 = 6,561 doubles and
81³ = 531,441 triples.
Search the 81 semantic primes and common alternate synonyms, or switch to Doubles or Triples to search every generated compound, by English or Two Talk. On doubles and triples, enter your own meaning in the notes field on any row - your saved notes are searchable too, so you can find compounds you've defined yourself even deep in the triples space. When you print the page, only the compounds you've added notes to are included.
| Symbol | Meaning | Category |
|---|
Tracking an issue and a blocked response.
JN (Literal
name) >@.!: (state + crisis)
:< (past).@%.^? (group +
context/legal) >!.<! (execution +
negation/blocked) :: (ongoing).
Four steps to learn Two Talk. Start with the symbols, then build up to writing full sentences.
Learn the 9 symbols. These are the
building blocks for everything else:
@ # ! ? > < : ^ %
Learn the 81 pairs. Any two symbols
combined make a word with a fixed meaning. e.g.
#! (tool), @# (person).
Compound pairs with a dot. Join up to
three pairs to deeply nest meanings:
XX.XX.XX. Left pairs are modified by right
pairs.
Write sentences. One line per statement: who → what → when. Separate each word with a space.
These are the 25 most useful pairs optimized for notes, tasks, and status.
@@ Self
@# Someone
@% People
># Do / Action
>! Execution
>> Progression
#! Tool
#? Sign / Code
<! Not / Blocked
!! Done / Perfect
!: Crisis / Bad
!? Can / Able
!@ Motive / Intent
?? Wonder / Ask
?# Fact / Datum
?! Knowledge
?^ Context
%^ All / Entire
!> Move / Speed
>@ Speech / Say
>< If
:: Duration
:< Past
:> Future
:# Now