this post was submitted on 20 Dec 2025
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[–] EsmereldaFritzmonster@lemmings.world 21 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (12 children)

It's been this way for a long time. 20 years ago I was told I came off as angry in my texts. It took me a sec, but I figured out it's bc i put periods at the end of the last sentence.

That sounds like a good plan. See you there

-vs-

That sounds like a good plan. See you there.

[–] tal@lemmy.today 13 points 1 day ago (10 children)

That doesn't sound angry to me, but I suppose things are subjective.

[–] WindyRebel@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago (9 children)

Nah. It’s not subjective. It’s the result of fucking imbeciles that don’t read.

That was meant to be angry because taking correct punctuation as some sort of slight is stupid as shit.

[–] Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Nah. It’s not subjective. It’s the result of fucking imbeciles that don’t read.

But isn't that what makes it subjective? Subjective means its meaning is "subject" to the reader's interpretation. It isn't objective, which is when the meaning exists outside such frames of reference.

That is, ending a text with a period isn't a(n objective) rule that always means a particular tone. Instead, it's a (subjective) understanding made by certain readers (who may be making assumptions that the texter didn't intend.)

[–] WindyRebel@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yes, you’re correct if we want to get technical.

However, I have a difficult time believing that most people truly think that using sentence ending punctuation is default passive aggressive. If I wanted to, I could read “great.” and “great” both as passive aggressive. The default takeaway of a response shouldn’t be negative, it’s just an answer using a rule that indicates that I’ve stopped my reply.

A good reader looks for context clues to decipher meaning. In the end, if one is unsure then just ask for clarification. Starting with a default negative view indicates to me that there is something deeper going on with that person.

Agreed, I don’t see it as passive-aggressive, I see it as using proper punctuation. I’m an oldie, though, and most of the people I text know what I mean when I type. If someone were to react negatively to putting a period in a text, I’d implore them to talk to me about it instead of assuming motive that isn’t there. Then if that doesn’t help, well, guess we won’t be texting each other anymore. I don’t have the time or energy to play silly misinterpretation games with someone who can’t communicate like an adult.

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