Are full stops passive aggressive?

[Samas]

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

Yes & the question was, can fullstops be used when someone is being passive aggressive?

Lack of punctuation = more opportunities for confusion in meaning.

I must be inadvertently offending people all over the shop with my full stops. Oops. 😬🙄🤣

You're using commas where they don't belong in this post. Is that deliberate?

It seems to me people are being purposefully obtuse on this thread.
It isn’t a problem with every full stop, it’s only full stops at the end of a message. If you bother to try and think about it, text conversations are continuous now due to unlimited data/wifi. Previously, text messages were limited in length as pp mentioned. Now, if you put a full stop at the end of a message, it indicates that the conversation is over, you are forcefully bringing the dialogue to a close, instead of allowing the rolling, text-based conversation to continue. For all the eye-rolling about the sensitivities of younger generations on this thread, there seems to be a sort of delight in the opportunity to be irritated by them.

I am impressed by how many people are conscientiously whacking full stops at the end of their posts though. I’m off to survey some other threads and see if others are so rigorous

My teens say they are 🤣 It's a youth thing apparently.

In spoken communication, we use the speaker's accompanying tone and body language to interpret mood.

Written communication is stripped of that, so both reader and writer use punctuation to communicate/gauge mood.

True. And it is totally ridiculous. Amusing, though, that anyone thinks a full stop is anything other than the end of a sentence.

It is serious. The point of language is to communicate. The point of punctuation is to aid communication by making written language as clear as possible.

You only have to read some online posts, including on Mumsnet, to see how useful punctuation is. It’s difficult to understand what you’re being told in hundreds of words without a comma, bracket or full stop. The education system has failed adults whose communication is restricted this way.

I can't believe you ended your reply to me with a full stop! How rude! 😄

I think emojis are a much better way to show passive aggression, if someone wants to (note, no full stop. I'm catching up with the times)

Jesus I’ve heard it all now, getting offended by a full stop.
These people are very lucky if all they have to worry about is a .

😂 That’s an excellent response.

I haven’t heard of this but find it utterly ridiculous.

I will be wielding that full stop in the same way I would bang a door.

Please tell me this is a joke!
How can you possibly wield a full stop?
It's punctuation!

The key for young people then - if someone is over 30, don't fret about the full stop at the end of a message. If someone is under 30, the full stop means war!

Now, if you put a full stop at the end of a message, it indicates that the conversation is over, you are forcefully bringing the dialogue to a close, instead of allowing the rolling, text-based conversation to continue.

Except it doesn't! It just means you're ending your sentence using a full stop as your punctuation of choice (rather than an exclamation mark).

I've been checking in with my sister re my niece and her use of full stops. Always uses them apparently.

However, this isn't helpful, as she is clever and goes to a good school, but is also a 14 year old girl, and therefore by default constantly passive aggressive.

So my paltry sample size of one has not produced a definitive result.

No, it was 'do full stops indicate passive aggression?'.

Have you never had a row with someone over text message? Never banged out an irate email?

I'm going to have to quiz my supervisees at work tomorrow to check if I've been upsetting them with full stops!

It's the words that are important and chosen for their powers not the full stop. Christ on a bike.

I despair.
I am a pedant, with full capacity of grammar. I try to "move with the times" - as much as it can fit in with a corporate role.
If someone on my team told me they found them offensive, they would be brought into my circle of pedantry via my "10 minute talk" on "Why Grammar Matters".
If they attempted to write a business report (for want of a better example) without a full stop, they would be subject to my full 30 minute diatribe work sanctioned training on "Why Communication Matters".
Clients expect proper communication. Communication without correct punctuation is word salad.

Yes. I use full stops in those communications in the same way I would in friendly messages. Because I use sentences and they need to be ended with punctuation!

Why do you insist on splitting hairs? You must be really unhappy with your life, to consistently nit pick!

Quite seriously no wonder there are so many people with mental health issues if simple text messages are a source of such angst.

I've just confirmed that my DC's age group (late teens) don't use full stops with each other, but DC does with me. DC's friends would wonder why one was used.
DC has very good writing, spelling and punctuation otherwise though.