The other day, as I was driving along, one of the disk jockeys (or whatever you call them now) came off with 'and now we're going to talk about grammar and punctuation, which I know seems unusual for us'. Of course, I perked right up. Grammar and punctuation? Bring it, lady.
Apparently, the period is being perceived as some form of aggression in writing. Of course, this is supposedly amongst teens. And of course, it has to do with texting. (Because that's where the teens do the majority of their writing.) I guess when a teen texts, each text is a complete thought on its own, so it doesn't require a period to let the reader know the thought has finished.
Okeeee.
Anyway, if you end your text with a period, it indicates to the reader that you are angry. I wonder what an exclamation point means to these kids? REALLY angry? Super happy? Excited? Is there a cue to the emotion based on how many exclamation points are texted? How do they feel about ellipses, which are three periods in a row? OMG, the world's ending? Angry angry angry. Heh.
But I digress. Period.
I hear this stuff and weep for the future of the writing. Thank goodness there are people like us who actually enjoy the written word and all the punctuation surrounding it.
In a way, I kinda get it. It's not easy showing emotion in writing. Writers work at that every day. But to assigning an emotion to a proper and necessary bit of punctuation seems silly. "No more periods, they make us feel bad about ourselves."? Umm...
Maybe we should go back to telegram punctuation STOP Then no one will get their feelings hurt over the end of a sentence STOP
Nah, that's stupid.
Or they could just use the damn emoticons... err, emojis... err... whatevers to show emotion and not have to feel bad about a freakin' period.
Or maybe they could simply use the words given to them to express the emotions they're feeling. But that would be work. Hell, they could make up words to express themselves. Blerg. Gah. Feh and Bah.
I think throughout this post, you can easily discern what I might be feeling. And there isn't a single angry period in here. Honest. ;o)
Note: I typed the subject of this post and then it occurred to me how it might read a different way, so I added in 'punctuation' so as not to confuse the issue. Quit laughing.
This post made me smile. :) One of my kids, when he was in high school, told me that my texts all sounded angry! Too many ellipses and not enough emojis, haha. Ah, the young people--they use a different language.
ReplyDeleteI had to read the title four times before I figured out what your note meant. Batteries running low, here. (roll eyes)
ReplyDeleteI was shocked the first time I heard that a period indicates anger. I guess I'm angry a LOT, since I use a billion periods. And commas, and semi-colons. Weird, since I consider myself pretty laid back.
But then, I don't text. Anyone. Ever! :-)