This short piece is a fond look at the nuances of punctuation that conclude sentences and build relationships.
I enjoy writing, and like to think that my grammar and punctuation are impeccable. Not so, my teenager would happily argue. She finds fault with my British English and in turn I do not follow the rules of her American English. The generational divide on top of the continental one only expands it exponentially!
My use of the exclamation point irritates her to no end. Did you happen to notice the one at the end of the paragraph above? She sure would, and then proceed to give me a talk about how one is not supposed to use exclamation points as it makes the writing too casual.
To me the exclamation point is my only arsenal to show joy, surprise, anger, despair – just about any emotion. There were no emoticons in the 80s, all we had then was the lanky exclamation point! [How could I not use one now?]
It is one sleek punctuation mark, and what a world of difference it makes.
With an “On my way” text message I know someone is coming, but with an “On my way!” I sense kinship, joy, high spirits, and it never fails to bring me a smile.
~AK Irvinekar
You got me thinking!!!!!! Maybe its the British English influence on us…😎
To be always “proper”!
Good comparison between then and now!!
And wonder what it will be 30 years from now!
Perfectly… Exclamation sign was the only way in pre-smartphone age to express emotions. Now we have so many emoticons but still we at our age don’t dare to use those as freely as the new generation does..
👍 for S and Nice!! for you Archana