Them little dots are called a diaeresis - and they annoy me no end, as I first noticed them under the editorship of Tina Brown, who also filled the magazine with ads, which did not go away when Ms. Brown did.

So, the diaereses are guilty by association.

edit: Damn, AnnaS beat me by 43 seconds - but I think I spelled it righter 'n she did.

double edit: And my Webster's says it comes from the Greek, via that ol' Latin (it means "to divide" because it's dividing the pronunciation into two syllables), but I'm sure Faldaje will show up soon to tell us all a thing or two about it