Current location:World Window news portal > entertainment
VOX POPULI: Young texters have rendered punctuation marks obsolete
World Window news portal2024-05-07 22:42:15【entertainment】2People have gathered around
IntroductionIf punctuation marks could speak, they might remonstrate us, “How could you do this to us now, after
If punctuation marks could speak, they might remonstrate us, “How could you do this to us now, after using us all the time?”
Young Japanese today are said to feel that use of the “full stop” punctuation mark--or “maru” in Japanese--makes social media posts come across as “aloof” or “unsympathetic” in tone.
In fact, young netizens recently decried the use of the period as “maru harassment.”
An example cited was a post that said “Daijobu desu” (literally, “It’s OK”) with a maru.
I am in my 50s. I checked my cellphone’s history and confirmed that I have always used punctuation in all my texts as a matter of course, including those sent to young people.
But not one text I’d received from them was punctuated.
With a jolt, I saw this for what it is--a generation gap.
Wondering if this “no punctuation” phenomenon is peculiar to Japan, I asked my friends in Europe, Southeast Asia and South America.
Apparently, the trend is common in various languages around the world.
A British woman in her 20s said, “Punctuation is not needed in message balloons. The ‘send’ button serves as the full stop.”
And just as in Japan, the period is disdained as giving off an uncaring, authoritarian and grumpy vibe.
Many people end their messages with no period or a dash, she said.
She also told me that while she and most of her contemporaries in their 20s think favorably of the exclamation mark at the end of a message, that is not the case with teenagers, who dislike it as being “coercive.”
As for writing formal emails or responding to messages from her superiors at work, she uses punctuation as an indication of seriousness and formality, she said.
In “Kutoten Omoshiro Jiten” (Fun facts about punctuation) by Masatoshi Orui, I came across an interesting anecdote from about half a century ago.
A well-known Japanese language scholar argued that it is rude to use punctuation in a letter to one’s superior, as this is tantamount to being condescending to the recipient by making the letter easier to understand.
I began to feel sorry for punctuation marks for being subjected to praise and censure, for promoting good manners on the one hand and aiding bad manners on the other.
But since I rely on them every day, I vow to keep using them as I always have. Period.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 16
* *
*Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Address of this article:http://www.samacharpostdainik.com/html-50f099941.html
Very good!(9172)
Related articles
- China's tourism market embraces robust recovery over May Day holiday
- Rihanna goes 'nude' as she models a lacy body suit in a video promoting her new lingerie collection
- Women SLAM the skyrocketing price of professional lash extensions
- Tom Brady fans in hysterics over Netflix Roast as they hail the quarterback's jokes a 10/10
- Meihuashan scenic area in Nanjing, Jiangsu
- REVEALED: The jaw
- Paris Hilton's brother
- Yu Darvish pitches 5 scoreless innings as the Padres beat the Cubs 6
- Scenery of Xiling Gorge amid the misty rain
- Oksana Masters overcame traumatic childhood
Popular articles
Recommended
Xi Visits Beijing School Ahead of International Children's Day
Kim Kardashian's Met Gala moments! A look back at every outfit the star has worn on the red carpet
The FAA investigates after Boeing says workers in South Carolina falsified 787 inspection records
Gerard Butler appears in high spirits as he watches Chelsea FC thrash West Ham 5
Xi Sends Congratulatory Message to Lanting Forum on Chinese Modernization and the World
Brooke Shields and model daughter Grier Henchy, 18, get matching tattoos with a sentimental meaning
Bugging equipment found in room where Polish government was to meet
Xi to begin Serbia visit on the 25th anniversary of NATO's bombing of the Chinese Embassy
Links
- Whoopi Goldberg reveals who will get her $60 MILLION fortune when she dies
- The Block's Liberty Paschke reveals her horrifying encounter with a magpie: 'I'm so scared'
- Cambodia's Supreme Court upholds the 2
- The Block's Liberty Paschke reveals her horrifying encounter with a magpie: 'I'm so scared'
- Luke Rowe, who helped 3 leaders win the Tour de France, will retire at the end of the season
- Anthony Edwards and the T
- My friend is seeing my husband of 20 years, whom I only separated from weeks ago
- Want to find out how good a hotel can be? Inside the hyper
- Luke Rowe, who helped 3 leaders win the Tour de France, will retire at the end of the season
- Berlin’s government offers to give away villa once owned by Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels