Jackie Hemond
I was shocked this summer when The New York Times reported that the use of the period (.) has ended Can you imagine the consequences? People, in their zeal to text, rush willy nilly through words ending their thoughts not with a period but by hitting the send button on their devices
Like so
I have started a new sentence
Despite the silliness of the issue, another article, written by Jeff Guo for The Washington Post, outlined the development of the period through the ages.
Early Greek and Latin texts lacked punctuation of any sort. There weren’t even spaces between words. readershadtodecipherthemeaningofthejumbleontheirown
Medieval texts used punctuation more liberally, in fact more liberally than our own use. The texts included a floating dot between words which acted like a modern-day hyphen, comma, or semi-colon. It marked a place where an orator could catch his breath or adjust his tone. An example used in the article is “the medium•green car” or “the•medium green•car. Depending on how the phrase is said, a floating dot indicates the meaning.
With the printing press, rules for uniform punctuation were formed and standardized. The printing press also marked the decline of the orator and the ascendance of a reader.
Now, however, phone texts are more similar to speech than the written word. Today’s digital texting harks back to an age of flourishes, pauses, fewer rules and more creativity. Hyphens get lots of use but, most of the time, a period sees little action. When a period is used, it denotes a sharp line break, an angry yell. The sentence, “I am waiting in the car.” becomes “I am waiting in the car!!”
In truth, I don’t like texting – not the emoticons or the abbreviated spellings such as “ur” instead of “you are.” However, I admit to employing hyphens, often. I used them back before smart phones, before computers even, when professors frowned upon my excessive use of them. Also, I am holding on to periods.
When there is so much news that is ugly and hateful, I tend to read news articles such as the ones I have referenced. They distract me from the ugly realities – politics, terrorism, hunger and the plight of immigrants, to name just a few. In fact, there is another type of emphasis that can be used with periods, which I will use here. Some days, I feel like I am just holding on….