3 ms·

Maybe you just haven’t realized it’s being used that way? Examples: “It’s fine!” (It is indeed fine.) “It’s fine.” (It’s not at all fine.) “K, thanks” (Got

Maybe you just haven’t realized it’s being used that way? Examples: “It’s fine!” (It is indeed fine.) “It’s fine.” (It’s not at all fine.) “K, thanks” (Got it, thanks) “K. Thanks.” (Cool. Thanks for nothing.) “Bye” (See you later) “Bye.” (Fuck off)

thaumasiotes 5y ago
No, I assure you that, if there are peer groups that use periods that way, I am not part of any of them. And it's a mistake to assume that your manager must follow the same weird typographical conventions that you do. Odds are he's never heard of them.
- elliekelly 5y ago
  It’s a pretty well documented/discussed aspect of text-based digital communication. Kind of like how text written in all caps is interpreted as “shouting”. I’m honestly shocked there are HN users who are unaware of the tone implications. Period. Full Stop. Point. Whatever It’s Called, It’s Going Out of Style (2016): https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/10/world/europe/period-full-stop-point-whatever-its-called-millennials-arent-using-it.html?_r=0 https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/10/world/europe/period-full-... The Period Is Pissed (2013): https://newrepublic.com/article/115726/period-our-simplest-punctuation-mark-has-become-sign-anger https://newrepublic.com/article/115726/period-our-simplest-p... Stop. Using. Periods. Period. (2016): https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/06/13/stop-using-periods-period-2/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/06/13/stop-... The Secret Emotional Lives of 5 Punctuation Marks (2014): https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/59060/secret-emotional-lives-5-punctuation-marks https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/59060/secret-emotional-l... Why Does Using a Period in a Text Message Make You Sound Angry or Insincere? (2016): https://theconversation.com/why-does-using-a-period-in-a-text-message-make-you-sound-insincere-or-angry-61792 https://theconversation.com/why-does-using-a-period-in-a-tex... Yes. A Study Shows that Ending Your Texts with a Period Makes You Sound Like an Asshole (2016): https://www.mic.com/articles/130042/ending-your-texts-with-a-period-makes-you-sound-angry https://www.mic.com/articles/130042/ending-your-texts-with-a...
  - thaumasiotes 5y ago
    > I’m honestly shocked there are HN users who are unaware of the tone implications. The tone implications are not an objective fact. They are a quirk of your social group. As I wrote above, I'm "aware" of the implication in that I have seen it described many times. But it's not an implication that actually exists in any context I am part of. By contrast, the belief that the ordinary smile emoji U+14642 constitutes an insult rather than a smile is a very real, and therefore more painful and annoying, part of my personal context.
    - elliekelly 5y ago
      Since my social group does not extend to the NY Times, Washington Post, or any of the authors of any of the links I posted it’s quite clearly not just a “quirk” of my social group. It’s part of a wider shift in how we use language to communicate online. You can accept it or you can ignore it. Either way, the shift has already happened whether you’ve realized it or not. My Grandma TYPES LIKE THIS ON FACEBOOK because she insists it shows her excitement. Silly, Grandma...
      - thaumasiotes 5y ago
        > You can accept it or you can ignore it. Either way, the shift has already happened whether you’ve realized it or not. You viewing periods as threatening is not a shift that has happened to me. It's a shift that's happened to you. If I were to "accept it" as you suggest, the only thing that would happen would be that I started misinterpreting my friends and taking offense where none was offered. No part of that is a good idea. You seem to have a lot of difficulty with the idea that different groups might not communicate in the same way. Do you really believe that everyone using 88 as a fun way to say "bye" is really signaling Nazi sympathies?
        zo1 5y ago
        Sounds like you not having the shift described by the other guy is a quirk of your social group. Either way, you're both arguing which is more prevalent because it's implied that not 100% of everyone agrees with a social norm. We go with the majority.
bbarnett 5y ago
This has got to be colloquial. I've never heard of such a thing. What country are you from? Canadian here.
- kayodelycaon 5y ago
  For myself, I’m from Ohio and I’ve definitely seen language used this way. It is really dependent who you are talking to. I hang out with a lot of people younger than me, who grew up outside the usual tech circles. They definitely text this way and it’s mostly how I text. People on Hacker News are not the type of people I see talking like this.

thaumasiotes 5y ago

No, I assure you that, if there are peer groups that use periods that way, I am not part of any of them. And it's a mistake to assume that your manager must follow the same weird typographical conventions that you do. Odds are he's never heard of them.

elliekelly 5y ago
It’s a pretty well documented/discussed aspect of text-based digital communication. Kind of like how text written in all caps is interpreted as “shouting”. I’m honestly shocked there are HN users who are unaware of the tone implications. Period. Full Stop. Point. Whatever It’s Called, It’s Going Out of Style (2016): https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/10/world/europe/period-full-stop-point-whatever-its-called-millennials-arent-using-it.html?_r=0 https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/10/world/europe/period-full-... The Period Is Pissed (2013): https://newrepublic.com/article/115726/period-our-simplest-punctuation-mark-has-become-sign-anger https://newrepublic.com/article/115726/period-our-simplest-p... Stop. Using. Periods. Period. (2016): https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/06/13/stop-using-periods-period-2/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/06/13/stop-... The Secret Emotional Lives of 5 Punctuation Marks (2014): https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/59060/secret-emotional-lives-5-punctuation-marks https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/59060/secret-emotional-l... Why Does Using a Period in a Text Message Make You Sound Angry or Insincere? (2016): https://theconversation.com/why-does-using-a-period-in-a-text-message-make-you-sound-insincere-or-angry-61792 https://theconversation.com/why-does-using-a-period-in-a-tex... Yes. A Study Shows that Ending Your Texts with a Period Makes You Sound Like an Asshole (2016): https://www.mic.com/articles/130042/ending-your-texts-with-a-period-makes-you-sound-angry https://www.mic.com/articles/130042/ending-your-texts-with-a...
- thaumasiotes 5y ago
  > I’m honestly shocked there are HN users who are unaware of the tone implications. The tone implications are not an objective fact. They are a quirk of your social group. As I wrote above, I'm "aware" of the implication in that I have seen it described many times. But it's not an implication that actually exists in any context I am part of. By contrast, the belief that the ordinary smile emoji U+14642 constitutes an insult rather than a smile is a very real, and therefore more painful and annoying, part of my personal context.
  - elliekelly 5y ago
    Since my social group does not extend to the NY Times, Washington Post, or any of the authors of any of the links I posted it’s quite clearly not just a “quirk” of my social group. It’s part of a wider shift in how we use language to communicate online. You can accept it or you can ignore it. Either way, the shift has already happened whether you’ve realized it or not. My Grandma TYPES LIKE THIS ON FACEBOOK because she insists it shows her excitement. Silly, Grandma...
    - thaumasiotes 5y ago
      > You can accept it or you can ignore it. Either way, the shift has already happened whether you’ve realized it or not. You viewing periods as threatening is not a shift that has happened to me. It's a shift that's happened to you. If I were to "accept it" as you suggest, the only thing that would happen would be that I started misinterpreting my friends and taking offense where none was offered. No part of that is a good idea. You seem to have a lot of difficulty with the idea that different groups might not communicate in the same way. Do you really believe that everyone using 88 as a fun way to say "bye" is really signaling Nazi sympathies?
      - zo1 5y ago
        Sounds like you not having the shift described by the other guy is a quirk of your social group. Either way, you're both arguing which is more prevalent because it's implied that not 100% of everyone agrees with a social norm. We go with the majority.

bbarnett 5y ago

This has got to be colloquial. I've never heard of such a thing. What country are you from? Canadian here.

kayodelycaon 5y ago
For myself, I’m from Ohio and I’ve definitely seen language used this way. It is really dependent who you are talking to. I hang out with a lot of people younger than me, who grew up outside the usual tech circles. They definitely text this way and it’s mostly how I text. People on Hacker News are not the type of people I see talking like this.