That language is a live entity and constantly evolving has been a recurring topic on this blog. In some contexts it moves at a giddying speed that only the groups in the know can keep up with. Text speech, for example.
I think I may be outing myself as a ‘boomer’ here, but there was a time when I believed ‘lol’ meant ‘lots of love,’ then I was told it meant ‘laughing out loud’ Later I started seeing comments on Facebook or Twitter (OK, I know, only those of us over a certain age still use these platforms) where ‘lol’ was interspersed, not quite at random, but as if to soften the message just conveyed. Apparently it is indeed used now as a means of indicating irony, or softening an otherwise potentially confrontational message. As in, “I need your copy in by tomorrow at the latest, lol”
Sometimes it’s hard to understand what new expressions mean. When one sees ‘kk’ at the end of texts – or indeed, instead of any other message – do these replace XX (kisses), okay (agreement), or is it simply a quick way of indicating ‘message received and understood, thanks’?
Or one understands what is meant, but don’t know why. ‘i’ for the first person ‘I’, for example. Is this modest self effacement, or laziness in that it’s too much bother to switch to capitals?
As for full stops: when one sees two together, are they an accidental slip of the finger, or a request to the recipient to elaborate? Does a three dot ellipsis indicate awkwardness or annoyance? Or does it mean I could go on (and on) but I’ve run out of characters? I have seen these all explanations given for ‘..’ and ‘…’ – which probably means that they are now out dated, and the text messaging trend setters have moved on to pastures new.
The single full stop too has become controversial, with some regarding it as being a vehicle for micro-aggression. Some linguists view its non-use by young people at the end of a text message as being their wish not to seem abrupt or angry rather than a grammatical shortcoming. Hence its usage (or not) has become a marker of the relative age (or youth) of the author. I have occasionally omitted the full stop on Twitter when I have run out of characters, but never considered its use as an act of oppression or intimidation (lol). On the other hand I have seen – and been part of – a growing tendency to omit the full stop from lists, bullet points, and addresses, which seems to cross all age groups.
I’ve certainly never expected any reader to read more into my frequent use of a full stop than a possibly old fashioned adherence to one of the less arcane rules of grammar. What I have never done is write PERIOD at the end of a sentence. That certainly brings the comment to an emphatically clear finale; assertive, if not positively aggressive. So far, the humble full stop has conveyed enough strength of feeling for me.
writingandbreathing 