One of the biggest shocks of using perlmonks was finding that I needed to use HTML. That said I find I like this method better then typing in text, as it gives me a fair range of control, without having to learn anything new. Also, I'm the type who memorizes the keyboard short-cuts, in order to never use the mouse :)

I never thought of using <code> to type text as is.

"Pain is weakness leaving the body, I find myself in pain everyday" -me