Some Text-iquette #160

According to the September 28th New Yorker there are a lot of important punctuation changes. It has to be the period so the reader knows the thought is complete. But a comma separates items and that lessens confusion. My assumption was that punctuation started the same time as letters and was just part of the written word landscape. However, the most important punctuation mark is, wait for it…the space. The space between words started sometime in the 8th century. ItshardformetoimaginetherenotbeingaspacebetweenwordsbutIguessitwasreal. One can quibble about if a space is punctuation, but it’s gobsmacking to know that we didn’t always have that.

I knew about “netiquette” where there are rules of etiquette when using the internet. But I didn’t know any “text-iquette” rules. Luckily, we have children who are happy to point out my mistakes. 

When texting, a period means the thought or sentence is complete. Not so fast, Gen Z often interprets a period as anger and finality. Ending the thought without a period means the conversation is friendly and can continue. 

An exclamation point, often overused in writing (see Tom Wolfe) means excitement or urgency; it’s serious. However, Gen Z thinks it means politeness. Why? Because a period is hostile so an exclamation point means they’re happy. 

Finally, one of my favorites, the ellipsis. It means taking a breath to think or separating thoughts. Nope. It is heavy sarcasm or doom and disappointment. It can also be foreboding about something that I’m not saying. 

I shouldn’t be surprised about these differences. My generation used hip and cool lingo that the “squares” couldn’t understand. And we took joy in keeping them confused and uncertain. The difference is now it isn’t about verbal communication, but written communication. I just have to keep up.