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Are full stops passive aggressive?

288 replies

Samas · 07/09/2025 22:16

Are full stops really passive-aggressive now? According to my colleague they are, especially in text messages. Apparently, ending a sentence correctly is no longer “neutral” but somehow comes across as cold or hostile.

yabu= full stops are indeed PA
yanbu= of course they’re not

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5foot5 · 09/09/2025 17:34

When I was a teen and used to take all of the vowels out of words to fit my txt n2 1 msg bcz it wz rly xspnsve it wasn't because I couldn't spell. It was just the norm at the time.

@GladioliGreen This made me smile because it reminded me of one of the first internet forums I was on in the very early 2000s. The forum was a bit special interest, centred around a magazine part work that turned out to have quite a varied demographic.

It was clear that some of the people posting were probably teenagers and they often tended to post in text speak like your example. Other people were obviously old buffers (probably even older than the just turning 40 year old me!) who were having their first experiences on any kind of online forum. There would be almost incoherent outrage from some of the more "mature" forum members at what they took to be the shoddy standard of literacy in the 21st century. Eventually other posters had to gently explain that the teens almost certainly did know how to spell and punctuate correctly but that this was a fashionable form of communication currently.

So innocent back then!

Wednesdayonline · 09/09/2025 17:17

I'm in my early 30s and wouldn't use a full stop in a message because its not something me and my friends would use if we weren't mad at eachother, and we've done this for the last 15 years at least. Even a kiss at the end of the message depending on the conversation will often be used to be sarcastic. I feel like a lot of people are forgetting emojis exist as well and can replace punctuation often.

I work in a professional job and I obviously use proper punctuation in formal correspondence, even in personal emails, but not really in messages.

Language is always evolving. I mean I would use 😂 to say I find something funny, my younger brother in law would use 💀 to mean he finds something funny, and I'm sure kids now use something completely different (if they use emojis at all).

It's bizarre some people are calling young people easily offended but they are so offended by how younger people communicate.

pigsDOfly · 09/09/2025 16:57

Really rather depends on the message.

If someone asks a question and you reply 'NO.' I can understand why someone would find that, not so much passive aggressive, but actually quite aggressive.

But if it's a friendly reply and ends in a full stop can't see why it would be seen as p.a.

WaitWhatWhatWait · 09/09/2025 16:51

NorthernGirl1975 · 08/09/2025 19:16

My mum leaves two spaces after a full stop. Says it's how she was taught in her RSA Word Processing exams in the 80s.

I do this too! Not so much on my phone, but definitely when writing documents/emails in work.

JudgeJ · 09/09/2025 13:37

murasaki · 07/09/2025 23:55

Anxiety over a full stop. Truly it is the end of times.

I dread to think how the easily-offended squadron deal with apostrophes used correctly. Looking back through my small collection of messages I have noticed that sometimes I do and sometimes I don't use a full stop. Note to self, as of today full stops are mandatory in all my messages.

RememberBeKindWithKaren · 09/09/2025 07:44

dudsville · 08/09/2025 10:23

Younger people are always going to take a new twist on things, but they'll also be able to realise some things are generational or cultural. I don't add kisses to my text, even to DH, but everyone knows I'm very fond of them because they know me as a person, even if they usually do kisses.

Using kisses at the end of texts is definitely a slippery slope. Our builder- with whom I've not had many interactions- has sent me kisses by accident. He spots it later on and repeats the message without the kisses. Maybe he gets friendly with other customers but this isn't the case with me.

MagpiePi · 09/09/2025 07:38

pigsDOfly · 08/09/2025 16:11

Is it only p.a if you end the text with a full stop or are full stops no longer allowed in any part of a text?

If so, how the hell are you supposed to make sense of any message that is longer than a couple of sentence?

You send each sentence as a separate message.

HevenlyMeS · 08/09/2025 21:27

Yes, I have a friend, who does the very same 🤗

HevenlyMeS · 08/09/2025 21:25

Yes, I completely concur with you 🤗
Beautiful, compassionate, & enlightening, comment💚

HunterNoir · 08/09/2025 20:29

My sister only uses full stops in text or watsapp messages if you don't agree with her or she doesn't like what you're saying.

GinToBegin · 08/09/2025 20:21

I end text message with a full stop, and sign off emails ‘Regards’. I am not passive-aggressive, I like punctuation, and all my regards are kind, so I don’t feel any need to specify the fact. (I also use ‘apology’ rather than ‘sincere apology’, because if the apology isn’t sincere, I’m not offering it in the first place.)

NoWordForFluffy · 08/09/2025 20:11

Correct punctuation is rude?! I've heard it all now!

I agree re the thumbs up emoji though, @Redhairandhottubs!

Redhairandhottubs · 08/09/2025 20:02

Yes they are seen as passive aggressive if you use them at the end of a text (with no x or emoji to soften them!) I guess it feels like your ending the conversation?

I hate the thumbs up emoji. That’s even more passive aggressive imo!

mumofoneAloneandwell · 08/09/2025 19:55

They are 😭😭, they come across as rude imo

CoffeeLipstickKeys · 08/09/2025 19:53

yes, I am aware of this, it’s in same category as text in CAPITAL is shouting
text is an informal medium it doesn’t need to follow spag rules and I get that some think a full stop is blunt & direct

Onlythecrumbliest · 08/09/2025 19:50

What a load of tripe.

TinyIsMyNewt · 08/09/2025 19:31

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 08/09/2025 19:11

Full stops are ‘passive-aggressive’? What utter bunkum!

Without correct punctuation, the written word can become open to misunderstanding.

Anyone who is offended by normal punctuation should get a grip.

Without correct punctuation, the written word can become open to misunderstanding.
Only a profoundly stupid person would be confused by the stylistic norm of omitting full stops from the end of brief text messages.

Giggorata · 08/09/2025 19:28

No.
Sometimes I catch myself lazily leaving them off but now I am going to be punctilious about using them.

RememberBeKindWithKaren · 08/09/2025 19:18

Only. if. You're , a snowflake...

NorthernGirl1975 · 08/09/2025 19:16

MagpiePi · 08/09/2025 16:09

i used to get messages from someone who would leave a space, then put a full stop then start the next sentence without leaving a space. No idea what that was about!

My mum leaves two spaces after a full stop. Says it's how she was taught in her RSA Word Processing exams in the 80s.

WaitWhatWhatWait · 08/09/2025 19:15

ElizabethVonArnim · 08/09/2025 19:04

My Dad sends ‘Okay.’ as text messages and it is like a whiplash.

My mum sends the letter K, that's it - nothing else. It drives me bananas. You'd swear you had to pay by letter, even when text mage sizes were restricted to 140 characters I don't think you paid by then letter.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 08/09/2025 19:11

Full stops are ‘passive-aggressive’? What utter bunkum!

Without correct punctuation, the written word can become open to misunderstanding.

Anyone who is offended by normal punctuation should get a grip.

ElizabethVonArnim · 08/09/2025 19:04

My Dad sends ‘Okay.’ as text messages and it is like a whiplash.

TinyIsMyNewt · 08/09/2025 19:03

pigsDOfly · 08/09/2025 16:11

Is it only p.a if you end the text with a full stop or are full stops no longer allowed in any part of a text?

If so, how the hell are you supposed to make sense of any message that is longer than a couple of sentence?

For a multi-sentence message, of course you need punctuation. They can be considered PA when used at the end of brief messeages.

"Sure" vs "Sure."

"I'm fine" vs "I'm fine."

"Thanks" vs "Thanks." and alike.

It's about the context of the medium, along with the fact that the end of the message itself is sufficient to signal the end of the message. It's similar to how you needn't start each message in chat with a greeting and end each one with a formal sign off. Introducing formality into an informal medium can draw scrutiny, particularly where the sender doesn't typically do so.

LegoPicnic · 08/09/2025 17:11

Would anyone else probably not notice whether or not there was a full stop at the end of a sentence?

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