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Original poster

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

OP posts:
Natsku · 08/09/2025 06:08

I heard this too. If just makes me be more careful to end messages with a full stop.

pinkbackground · 08/09/2025 05:58

Good grief!

JoshLymanSwagger · 08/09/2025 05:58

type.

JoshLymanSwagger · 08/09/2025 05:58

How would you know if the message was finished? Maybe they had more to

Millytante · 08/09/2025 05:48

Mother of God, I truly despair at so much that’s apparently quite normal these days.
Even if some scientific test were to isolate atoms of passive aggression in punctuation, and prove the claim to be correct, so feckin what? You’ll survive it.
The thin-skinned people forever whingeing about things like this are perfectly happy to have created (for example) a pornified and ear-splitting cultural environment imposed on everybody, so I’ve no objection to open wounds caused to any of them by the odd comma (or, no doubt, the ‘élitist’ word illiterate, which I read has been banned, to avoid offence.)
😈 >evil cackle<

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 08/09/2025 03:46

It is the umlaut or diaeresis (two dots over a letter) that is most alarming to me.
When it is over the letter 'o' it looks like a shouting face emoji. (Just as well I'm not in Germany!)

But full stops? I love 'em. They are is probably my favourite punctuation mark, although I am quite fond of the colon - I just wish they would give it a more pleasant name. 'Doubly Dots' would be nicer.

Teanbiscuits33 · 08/09/2025 02:22

It does seem stupid but I can see why some people might find a full stop an bit abrupt, especially if the person they are texting usually ends texts with a ‘’x’’ or uses emojis. If you don’t get either but instead you get a full stop it doesn’t come across as very warm. In formal writing it would obviously be a different context.

NotAhotWeatherPerson · 08/09/2025 02:16

CJsGoldfish · 08/09/2025 01:35

Nah, it really isn't 😂
Sounds like you just don't know many people 🤷‍♀️

Not about to start using kisses at the end of my messages to every woman I text. Would love it if someone else did and reported back on how it went down 😆

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Can I do it to males, or will they start wondering if I 'like like' them?

LegoPicnic · 08/09/2025 01:57

AstonUniversityPotholeDepartment · 08/09/2025 00:00

I'm refusing to give in to that one. I am not ending my Teams messages with an x, I'm just not.

I'd struggle to send some of my work colleagues kisses in a birthday card, so doing it in Teams is right out.

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Yeah, I think the only people I know who end messages with an x are those I’d probably cross over the road to avoid if I wasn’t contractually obliged to interact with them.

Thankfully it hasn’t become a standard part of any of my core teams’ Teams messages

CJsGoldfish · 08/09/2025 01:43

Mustbethat · 08/09/2025 00:20

What about a good old interrobang?!

I think those should make a comeback.

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No way⸘

Or should I say,

NO WAY‽

Which is less offensive? 🤣

Willowkins · 08/09/2025 01:37

Yes it's a gen z thing
I found this out when my DD 20 asked me if I was upset with her
So I adapted my messages to her with no punctuation and use a new line each time instead
Everyone else gets the full works

Yes it's a Gen Z thing. I found this out when my DD 20 asked me if I was upset with her. So I adapted my messages to her with no punctuation (and use a new line each time instead). Everyone else gets the full works.

CJsGoldfish · 08/09/2025 01:35

Carrotsurprise · 07/09/2025 23:52

The only people I know who put full stops at the end of messages are boomers or a couple of my friends who are autistic. The most socially acceptable way of ending a short message is an x, at least among women.

Nah, it really isn't 😂
Sounds like you just don't know many people 🤷‍♀️

Not about to start using kisses at the end of my messages to every woman I text. Would love it if someone else did and reported back on how it went down 😆

Vaguelyclassical · 08/09/2025 01:09

murasaki · 08/09/2025 00:18

It's those semicolons you have to watch out for, terribly oppressive.

You will have to wrest my semicolons from my cold dead hands. And yes, I do use them in texts. Along with all other punctuation marks.
(edited for, um, misplaced hyphen!)

AstonUniversityPotholeDepartment · 08/09/2025 01:05

TinyIsMyNewt · 08/09/2025 00:54

Yes, the content of the communications, and how that correlates with their use of punctuation. E.g.

"Thanks!" is used fairly often, where the tone of the message is friendly.

"Thanks" or "Thanks," is mostly used for neutral messages.

"Thanks." is reserved for their passive aggressive messages only.

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Thanks is a great example. I've never seen it written as
" Thanks." except when the typist was clearly being passive-aggressive.

However, in my experience "Thank you." can be meant sincerely.

viques · 08/09/2025 01:03

mumof5five · 08/09/2025 00:48

I tend to use full stops in my text messages when I am not pleased. I didn't realise I was doing it till someone pointed out to me that they could tell I was in a bad mood by the amount of full stops I was using. Texting is a whole language in and of itself

Number of full stops.

Sorry, my bad, thought this was a grammar thread, didn’t realise it was a punctuation thread.

viques · 08/09/2025 01:00

Threepeaks2025 · 07/09/2025 22:23

Deadly psychological weapons like full stops should only be used with extreme caution!!!!!!!!.

OMG those exclamation marks are sooo triggering. Couldn’t you have put a safety [ ] around them.

I call you out as a Typographic Elliptical Revisionist Punctuationalist.

TinyIsMyNewt · 08/09/2025 00:54

ErrolTheDinosaur · 08/09/2025 00:39

Seems there must be something other than the punctuation which makes you so sure of their intent?

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Yes, the content of the communications, and how that correlates with their use of punctuation. E.g.

"Thanks!" is used fairly often, where the tone of the message is friendly.

"Thanks" or "Thanks," is mostly used for neutral messages.

"Thanks." is reserved for their passive aggressive messages only.

mumof5five · 08/09/2025 00:48

I tend to use full stops in my text messages when I am not pleased. I didn't realise I was doing it till someone pointed out to me that they could tell I was in a bad mood by the amount of full stops I was using. Texting is a whole language in and of itself

TheGreatWesternShrew · 08/09/2025 00:46

Completely depends. Sometimes when you use them to someone you never use them with people are doing that for emphasis. To be colder than usual.

With colleagues they are normal as they are correct and colleagues aren’t your besties.

Rednorth · 08/09/2025 00:45

ErrolTheDinosaur · 08/09/2025 00:35

I cannot begin to imagine work colleagues ending a message with an x.
It’d be grossly unprofessional.Confused

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I got pulled up in my last job for not signing off internal comms between our team with an X like they all did... Manager said that whilst it wasn't a requirement, she believed it helped to create a caring environment given we all worked remotely 😏

BooneyBeautiful · 08/09/2025 00:42

arethereanyleftatall · 07/09/2025 22:27

Lol, I had no idea about this till I read this thread. Mind, I’m 50 now 💪

I am 66 and had no idea either! DC have never complained, but now I come to think of it, DS never uses full stops in messages.

TinyIsMyNewt · 08/09/2025 00:42

murasaki · 08/09/2025 00:38

Or were they being passive aggressive anyway and just happened to use correct punctuation?

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When their tone is passive aggressive, they also use a period. When their tone is friendly or level, they don't.

ErrolTheDinosaur · 08/09/2025 00:40

SnowFrogJelly · 08/09/2025 00:36

.

!!

ErrolTheDinosaur · 08/09/2025 00:39

TinyIsMyNewt · 08/09/2025 00:37

I don't think it's as much of an age thing as people are suggesting. I have senior colleagues, in their early 60s, who absolutely use periods at the end of emails and Teams messages when they're intending to be passive aggressive.

Seems there must be something other than the punctuation which makes you so sure of their intent?

murasaki · 08/09/2025 00:38

TinyIsMyNewt · 08/09/2025 00:37

I don't think it's as much of an age thing as people are suggesting. I have senior colleagues, in their early 60s, who absolutely use periods at the end of emails and Teams messages when they're intending to be passive aggressive.

Or were they being passive aggressive anyway and just happened to use correct punctuation?

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