According to a report in The New Republic by Ben Crair, texting is changing the way we perceive punctuation--and no other piece of punctuation is in such an emotionally tangled web than the period.
Since texts are quick blurbs of writing, punctuation has evolved (or degraded, depending on your viewpoint). Whereas periods have been used for over 2,000 years to simply mean a distinct pause and end of a thought, today's text messaging now infers emotion behind its use.
The example Crair uses starts with texting your girlfriend to ask if she'd rather eat in than go out for her birthday. Her response without a period
we could do that
comes across as open-ended, liberated, and possibly agreeable, says Crair.
But her response with a period
we could do that.
comes across as closed, standoffish, final.
The problem appears to be that texting has created an entirely new emotional response requirement. While phone calls allow voice inflection, texting is based solely on the typed word. This explains why the exclamation point now implies absolute certainty (I really think this is all crazy!), but periods are distant and cold.
In essence, for years I've come across like a rude, emotionally-stunted person when I text friends and family because I'm a grammar stickler. I've also apparently just offended you with the 13 periods that appear in this post--14 if you count the subject line. Sorry about that. (15) (Damnit, 16.) (Arrhhhh...)
No comments:
Post a Comment