So now punctuation is rude . . .

[Lady Florida.]

I'm sure your regular recipients make a difference in how you text. The youngest people I text are ds 20 and my niece who is 29. If they're not bothered by my punctuation (even if they don't use it with friends they likely allow me the old people excuse) then it's not a problem. Other than those two, I text dh, several friends (we call ourselves The Golden Girls), and my same age cousin. We're all old and we all use punctuation, so it doesn't matter. 

 

If I regularly texted a group of teens (though I don't know why I would) I would use the accepted form. But I don't. So I'll do it my way. 

 

Now GET OFF MY LAWN!

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

(bolding mine)

 

I don't even want to know.

:leaving:

 

(off to google emoji meanings)

 

Edited: Well now, that was an education.

Hah!

[shawthorne44]

I must be really really old.  Not only do I consistently use periods, but I can't type a period without adding two spaces.  Even the last one. 

Some things just get beat into you too thoroughly.   I am also incapable of not adding the leading zero on a decimal number, or not flushing the toilet.   

[hornblower]

I've moved beyond texting. dd & i have entire conversations in gifs now 

 

[Garga]

Eh, even when I was a teen I thought lots of the "cool fads" were stupid and shallow and refused to participate. I didn't feel a need to be one of the cool kids. I guess I was an old fuddy-duddy long before my time. Interestingly, I liked to wear high topped Converse as a teen, something that was absolutely NOT cool or acceptable for girls. I was told on a regular basis that "girls don't wear those!" I giggle a bit when I see all the tween and teen girls making a big deal about how they are so cool when wearing high top Converse. Apparently, I'm always following or not following at the wrong time. :lol:

 

I'm a big proponent for doing what you want just because you like something, regardless of popular opinion. And since I am a proponent for that, it irks me when people won't accept something different about someone else, or won't accept a new idea.  

 

See, you had a new idea:  wear your Converse high tops.  And you were met with, "But girls don't do that!!"  

 

It's the "But girls don't do that!" part that bothers me. 

 

So, when I read an article and talk with some young people about the punctuation at the end of sentences and some of them say, "It's friendlier to leave off the punctuation," then I'm not going to say, "But girls don't do that!" (or its equivalent.)  I'm going to say, "Huh. Ok. Interesting."  At that point, I can choose to 1. always leave off punctuation, 2. leave off punctuation depending upon my audience, or 3. leave on punctuation for everyone, knowing that I'm coming across as unfriendly to some people.

 

It's the immediate, "But girls don't do that!" response that bothers me.  I was the cast out kid in school because I was so very, very different from everyone else, so when I see people rejecting people or ideas off the cuff, I admit that something inside of me twitches.

[marbel]

I must be really really old.  Not only do I consistently use periods, but I can't type a period without adding two spaces.  Even the last one. 

Some things just get beat into you too thoroughly.   I am also incapable of not adding the leading zero on a decimal number, or not flushing the toilet.   

 

You must not be all that old.  I remember in the '70s it was common to be admonished not to flush unnecessarily.  This was in California, but I don't recall it being a drought period.  Just environmentalism.

 

:-)

[poppy]

You must not be all that old.  I remember in the '70s it was common to be admonished not to flush unnecessarily.  This was in California, but I don't recall it being a drought period.  Just environmentalism.

 

:-)

 

If it's brown, flush it down. If it's yellow, let it mellow.

[poppy]

Eh, even when I was a teen I thought lots of the "cool fads" were stupid and shallow and refused to participate. I didn't feel a need to be one of the cool kids. I guess I was an old fuddy-duddy long before my time. Interestingly, I liked to wear high topped Converse as a teen, something that was absolutely NOT cool or acceptable for girls. I was told on a regular basis that "girls don't wear those!" I giggle a bit when I see all the tween and teen girls making a big deal about how they are so cool when wearing high top Converse. Apparently, I'm always following or not following at the wrong time. :lol:

 

This isn't a thing to do to be cool, it's a thing to do so people you communicate with dn't think you're irritated. 

[Lady Florida.]

You must not be all that old.  I remember in the '70s it was common to be admonished not to flush unnecessarily.  This was in California, but I don't recall it being a drought period.  Just environmentalism.

 

:-)

 

 

If it's brown, flush it down. If it's yellow, let it mellow.

 

I wonder if it was a regional (or just California) thing. The first time I heard it was when Dustin Hoffman's character in Meet the Fockers said it.

[hornblower]

I wonder if it was a regional (or just California) thing. The first time I heard it was when Dustin Hoffman's character in Meet the Fockers said it.

 

 

anyone who spends time on boats knows it too. I'd suspect any environment with precarious water supplies would have this rule. 

[mom2scouts]

This isn't a thing to do to be cool, it's a thing to do so people you communicate with dn't think you're irritated. 

 

No problem. I mostly text with my adult sons and my mom friends. They already know I'm irritated. :laugh:

[poppy]

I wonder if it was a regional (or just California) thing. The first time I heard it was when Dustin Hoffman's character in Meet the Fockers said it.

 

I remember it from the late 80s and I'm from the midwest. I think I read about it in 100 Simple Things You Can Do To Save the Earth-- that' it's like 2000+  gallons per person wasted annually.  But we left just pee (unless the person is sick or something) in the toilet, and had a brick in the tank too , for as long as I can remember.

 

I honestly didn't realize some people were raised to always flush until I got to college.

Edited January 5, 2018 by poppy

[Lady Florida.]

I remember it from the late 80s and I'm from the midwest. I think I read about it in 100 Simple Things You Can Do To Save the Earth-- that' it's like 2000+  gallons per person wasted annually.  But we left just pee (unless the person is sick or something) in the toilet, and had a brick in the tank too , for as long as I can remember.

 

I honestly didn't realize some people were raised to always flush until I got to college.

 

I had heard about saving water by not flushing (I think I read  50 Simple Things in the early 90s) but it's the little mnemonic rhyme I never heard of until the movie.

[frogger]

 

She said that texting is communication. Good communication involves taking your audience into account. It is rude not to. She said It is also rude to insist that punctuation must be eternally static and never evolving.

 

 

 

Very well put.

 

 

I have to say my parents are the most proficient I know at text speak minus emojis. They spent 2 decades in the bush and for the last 7-8 years (back in the 90's and 00's) that they were there they had a Sat. phone. They could send messages but you paid for every single character. I on the other hand didn't start start texting until it was cheap. I could afford full sentences. :)

[shawthorne44]

You must not be all that old.  I remember in the '70s it was common to be admonished not to flush unnecessarily.  This was in California, but I don't recall it being a drought period.  Just environmentalism.

 

:-)

 

My parents weren't hippies.  Plus, we had plenty of water, for most of the 70's we were in Minnesota and you couldn't throw a stick without it landing in a lake.  I also understood the basics of the water cycle from back when I had a parent nearby when I bathed and I asked where the bath water went.  

 

I first heard it in the 90's when I had an older live-in boyfriend quote it to me when I fussed at him for not flushing.  His pee water eventually eroded the smooth surface everywhere below water level and both toilets looked dirty almost immediately after cleaning.  

[Sandwalker]

Well apparently I'm always being rude to DH, I always text in complete sentences and he always texts in snippets of phrases.

My dh texts me a check mark often, which he explains is not rude, but a short way of saying OK, got it...[emoji819]

[marbel]

Once my kid texted me to come pick him up someplace.  I responded:   Y

 

He texted back "because I'm done!"  Right.  Now he knows that in our family a text message consisting of Y means "yes."  (Since I had dropped him off and we both knew I'd be picking him up, I had thought he'd figure it out.)

[Sandwalker]

I just texted dd 29" See you both tonight for dinner! We're having curry "

 

And no period. She texted back "Well you're in a good Friday mood, it looks like!"

[shawthorne44]

I just texted dd 29" See you both tonight for dinner! We're having curry "

 

And no period. She texted back "Well you're in a good Friday mood, it looks like!"

 

This is mind boggling

[unsinkable]

This is mind boggling

Look how polite you are

[Sandwalker]

This is mind boggling

I know! I usually add a heart emoji and left it off as a test.

[creekland]

Haha, I just told DH this, and he said, “No it isn’t. That’s stupid.â€

 

DD says that she doesn’t know of any two people who are made for each other better than DH or me. It’s because of comments like his about texting, LOL.

 

Same with us.  Not only do hubby and I agree about texting, double spaces at the end of a sentence, and other common grammar/writing things, we also always pick the same house on House Hunters, enjoy the same types of vacations, and the same restaurants.  Then too... we feel the same way about various fads, etc.  ;)

 

Garga, I fully intend to poo-poo things young people do. That's what old people are supposed to do. It's the circle of life. 😂

 

To us, nothing looks more comedic than an older person trying to be young via their actions or wardrobe or similar.   :lol:

 

We like to be "us" and others get to decide if they accept us as "us" or not.  Sometimes we are even in with the younger crowd on things we do.  They might be amused...  :closedeyes: On this particular topic, we won't be.  'Tis our choice.  Others can choose to accept us or be offended - their option.  I won't lose sleep either way.

[poppy]

I am pretty sure if you put two spaces after a sentence, it's automatically converted to one space.

 

Let's test.  This is a test.  {Two spaces}

Let's test. This is a test. {One space..... that wasn't easy for me}

 

Edit: huh, this forum didn't 'auto-correct' the two spaces.  I know some sites do.

 

I actually prefer auto-correct. I don't want to age myself when I type-- to out myself as someone who learned on an actual manual typewriter.

Edited January 5, 2018 by poppy

[creekland]

I am pretty sure if you put two spaces after a sentence, it's automatically converted to one space.

 

Let's test.  This is a test.  {Two spaces}

Let's test. This is a test. {One space..... that wasn't easy for me}

 

Edit: huh, this forum didn't 'auto-correct' the two spaces.  I know some sites do.

 

I actually prefer auto-correct. I don't want to age myself when I type-- to out myself as someone who learned on an actual manual typewriter.

 

I'll admit to having tested this site before - and continuing to age myself by putting in two spaces.  I'll even go back to edit it if I later read my post and not see it looking the way I want it.  Autocorrect sites like google are fine because they put in a little more - just not two full spaces.  Without that little bit more it just looks wrong to me, so has to be two.

 

I can't say I judge anyone else's posts though.  I only look at mine (sometimes) later.  I make a ton of typos in original posts (not just spacing), so most of mine will get edited if I come back to re-read.  Fortunately, I can blame my typos on my brain tumor and radiation.  I think most folks have to use old age or being busy or something.   :lol:

 

I can easily overlook typos others make and I don't worry about how they text me.  We just get chuckles out of those who use text speak since so few do - basically, only my sister on a regular basis.  My lads do not.  Folks from school do not.  My nephew doesn't (my sister's boy).

[Katy]

How do I learn what emojis mean?  I mean I understand the eggplant, but beyond that?

[marbel]

<snip>

 

I actually prefer auto-correct. I don't want to age myself when I type-- to out myself as someone who learned on an actual manual typewriter.

 

I have seen advice for older job-seekers to be careful not to use two spaces when typing up a resume, cover letter, etc, because it would be a clue that the applicant is old. 

[HSMWB]

I was actually informed by my tween text authority that not only do you ‘need’ to not use a period, you ‘need’ to put an emoji, or even better 3. Yes, three emoji’s for every text. 🤓😂😂. Who has time for this? Or else you are just old, like really old. And who wants to be out of touch and old - lol

 

But I still type her in sentences and then I do use periods.

[brehon]

<snip>

 

I actually prefer auto-correct. I don't want to age myself when I type-- to out myself as someone who learned on an actual manual typewriter.

I outed myself at work many years ago when someone younger than I <ahem> accused me of “angry typing†because of how my fingers hit the keyboard. I honestly could not figure out what they were talking about for the longest time. When I finally realized what this person meant I laughed and explained that my grandmother taught me to type on an old 1949 IBM manual typewriter.

 

My colleague looked simultaneously horrified and awed.

[mom2scouts]

I asked my 22 year old son about using periods in texting. He said sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't and it's the same for his friends. They only care if people understand. When I told him about this discussion he said, "Uhm. What? I didn't know proper punctuation was being short!" and told me it's really much more about being lazy than about appearing to be irritated.  :laugh:

[Rachel]

I was actually informed by my tween text authority that not only do you ‘need’ to not use a period, you ‘need’ to put an emoji, or even better 3. Yes, three emoji’s for every text. 🤓😂😂. Who has time for this? Or else you are just old, like really old. And who wants to be out of touch and old - lol

 

But I still type her in sentences and then I do use periods.

My 5 year old thinks you need 36 emojis per text, he is partial to the flags. It also must be sent with effects, especially if he finds out Dad is sitting in a meeting.

 

He painstakingly picks out every single emoji, but I am certain the recipients never notice anything other than how many there are.

[shawthorne44]

Sometimes DD will notice that I am texting a particular friend's mother ( or the friend will notice).    Then the girls will send each other long texts of JUST emjois.  Interesting ones are duplicated.   They are very amused.  

[eternalsummer]

I told my Spanish student I’d learned about the no punctuation thing and he told me that’s it’s also friendly to add extra letters to words sometimes like “hellooooâ€.

 

 

I have a customer who does this when she's in a good mood with me (if I ship early) and not when she's in a bad mood with me (when it takes the full processing time).  She's from Italy, and uses about 20 exclamation points and extra letters at the ends of words sometimes.  I find it quite charming.

[eternalsummer]

I am pretty sure if you put two spaces after a sentence, it's automatically converted to one space.

 

Let's test.  This is a test.  {Two spaces}

Let's test. This is a test. {One space..... that wasn't easy for me}

 

Edit: huh, this forum didn't 'auto-correct' the two spaces.  I know some sites do.

 

I actually prefer auto-correct. I don't want to age myself when I type-- to out myself as someone who learned on an actual manual typewriter.

I didn't learn on a manual typewriter but I type two spaces.  We were still taught two spaces when I was in high school and learned to type, in the late 90s.

[luuknam]

I think this thread is a good example of how older people immediately react to something new and villify it. We’ve had discussions on the boards in the past few months about how when we get old, we hope we’re not sticks-in-the-mud who poo-poo things that young people do.

 

Apparently, our good intentions not to poo-poo new things are being sorely tested right now.

 

Texting is a relatively new way of communication. We all know that most communication isn’t only about the words used, but is mostly about the body language and tone. Somewhere along the line, it’s been found that dropping that last period in a text can convey a specific tone.

 

I for myself, wanted to poo-poo this at first. But I am determined not to be an old fuddy-duddy. I’m going to drop the period on my last sentence in my texts now, so as to convey the tone I intend to convey in this relatively new form of communication. If you want to have a friendly tone, then the newly developed standard is to drop the period.

 

Texting is a relatively new way of communication that became really popular when I was in high school. Therefore, I'm going to claim that Millennial title and declare that whatever I text goes. Period. No old fuddy-duddiness about it.

 

I was actually informed by my tween text authority that not only do you ‘need’ to not use a period, you ‘need’ to put an emoji, or even better 3. Yes, three emoji’s for every text. 🤓😂😂. Who has time for this? Or else you are just old, like really old. And who wants to be out of touch and old - lol

 

 

I would not take texting advice from a tween, tbh. They're still at that age where they're discovering all the neat features of stuff. Just like someone who encounters PowerPoint for the first time and goes overboard... 

 

ETA: the more sentences I text in a single block, the more likely it is that the last one will have a period. I also can't stand Twitter. Who can say stuff in 140 characters? (I know that they've got more now, but still...)

Edited January 7, 2018 by luuknam

[luuknam]

That seems like a very flimsy "study" referenced in the article. I don't think I'll be changing my texting habits based on that. If anyone's bothered by a reasonably grammatical sentence ending with a period . . . they need to get a more interesting life.

 

(But what do I know -- I'm still leaving two spaces after periods. Old habits apparently don't die. ;) :lol:)

 

 

I hate to break it to you, but, I'm counting only one space after each period in that post. 

[Pawz4me]

I hate to break it to you, but, I'm counting only one space after each period in that post. 

 

If there's only one I'm pretty darn sure it's the board software doing it. I think. ;) Or maybe I've trained myself more successfully than I thought. :lol:

 

(It doesn't work to try to monitor myself while I'm typing. Paying too much attention messes up my natural rhythm.)

[Jean in Newcastle]

If there's only one I'm pretty darn sure it's the board software doing it. I think. ;) Or maybe I've trained myself more successfully than I thought. :lol:

 

(It doesn't work to try to monitor myself while I'm typing. Paying too much attention messes up my natural rhythm.)

Most word processing programs automatically change two spaces to one. And my phone makes two spaces into a period.

[Lady Florida.]

I'm pretty sure I'm older than all of you (I know for a fact I'm old enough to be mother to some of you) and naturally I learned to put two spaces after a period. I learned to type on a manual typewriter. I also learned why it's not only unnecessary anymore but also wrong. And I've been able to change to one space. If this old lady can do it...

 

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2011/01/space_invaders.html

 

https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/two-spaces-after-period/

 

https://problogservice.com/2010/02/04/why-you-should-put-one-space-after-a-period-not-two/

 

 

Now I just need to stop putting a period at the end of my texts. :)

[Sandwalker]

I'm pretty sure I'm older than all of you (I know for a fact I'm old enough to be mother to some of you) and naturally I learned to put two spaces after a period. I learned to type on a manual typewriter. I also learned why it's not only unnecessary anymore but also wrong. And I've been able to change to one space. If this old lady can do it...

 

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2011/01/space_invaders.html

 

https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/two-spaces-after-period/

 

https://problogservice.com/2010/02/04/why-you-should-put-one-space-after-a-period-not-two/

 

 

Now I just need to stop putting a period at the end of my texts. :)

[emoji33] OK I am convinced!

 

My ds24 was in the room, and I read him part of the article. He didn't even know that 2 spaces after the period was a thing! But I taught him to type (on a computer....?!?) He said because of coding, extra spaces are a nightmare thing, anyway. Then he went off on a nice tangent about how the indenting of paragraphs is ridiculous. :D

[nixpix5]

I had to go look at my older boys' texts and they have beautiful punctuation. I also looked at my texts from their best friends and girlfriends and they all use punctuation too. They are all mid 20s. Is this a more younger, highschool age or early college thing or do I just know all the grammatically anal young people haha.

[creekland]

Most word processing programs automatically change two spaces to one. And my phone makes two spaces into a period.

 

I don't use two spaces between sentences when texting.  It's hard enough to get the text right as it is.  I might be a member of the fat fingers club I suppose.  Most of my texts don't have two sentences anyway.  If I want to say something longer, I don't text.  I email (from my laptop) or actually use the phone to call the person.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I don't use two spaces between sentences when texting. It's hard enough to get the text right as it is. I might be a member of the fat fingers club I suppose. Most of my texts don't have two sentences anyway. If I want to say something longer, I don't text. I email (from my laptop) or actually use the phone to call the person.

It is quicker for me to press two spaces than to press the number button and then press the period spot of my phone. Dd taught me this shortcut. I text all the time to family and some WTM friends. In fact I am typing right on my phone which is no different than texting. Not once did I actually hit a period.

[creekland]

It is quicker for me to press two spaces than to press the number button and then press the period spot of my phone. Dd taught me this shortcut. I text all the time to family and some WTM friends. In fact I am typing right on my phone which is no different than texting. Not once did I actually hit a period.

The period on my phone is right next to the space bar. It's just as easy to push it as two spaces.

[eternalsummer]

I don't use a cell phone; I don't use word processors (I don't think I even have a word processing program); there are two spaces after my periods :)

[goldberry]

Just checked...periods with longer texts but not often for shorter ones. So maybe it's sort of instinctive?

[luuknam]

If there's only one I'm pretty darn sure it's the board software doing it. I think. ;) Or maybe I've trained myself more successfully than I thought. :lol:

 

(It doesn't work to try to monitor myself while I'm typing. Paying too much attention messes up my natural rhythm.)

 

A PP thought the same thing, but apparently the board software doesn't (her posts do have two spaces). Of course, it's also possible that it depends on your device or browser etc.

 

The period on my phone is right next to the space bar. It's just as easy to push it as two spaces.

 

 

Your space bar is the same size as the period? My period is right next to the space bar too, but the space bar is way bigger. It's very similar to this one:

 

http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/reviews/142157-image/Samsung-Galaxy-Note-3-Review-064-messaging.jpg

 

I do use the actual period though, not the double space bar, or, predictive text... it will suggest a period after certain words. 

[Garga]

A PP thought the same thing, but apparently the board software doesn't (her posts do have two spaces). Of course, it's also possible that it depends on your device or browser etc.

 

Sometimes WTM leaves my 2 spaces and sometimes it doesn’t. Then again...sometimes I’m on my ipad and sometimes I’m on my laptop. Maybe that has something to do with it. Edited January 7, 2018 by Garga

[Jean in Newcastle]

Ditto. No one, young or old, had ever told me my texts are rude. The only time I have ever commented on anyone else's texts are when my husband would use things like btw, fyi, luv u, etc. I figured at almost sixty he was too old for that.

According to Wikipedia, fyi has been around as an abbreviation since 1941. I certainly remember using it in the 80’s in office memos.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Automatic kerning is set by the programs you use.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[shawthorne44]

The only saving grace about the text abbreviations is google will clear things up for me.