I had trouble understanding their example of Gen X texting. Why was BUY capitalized? I’d be confused if I got that text as well. Make sure to BUY groceries… as opposed to what? Stealing them?
Comedic timing! We grew up with actual writers and actors who were blessed at communicating nuances that have steadily declined for the last 40 years. Our writing has personality because we had to actually learn grammar and how to spell. Oh… and we’re cynical too!
I read and re-read that section of the article because I thought they’d gotten it wrong. I write out my words and my kids shorten. And I get in trouble for using punctuation and “sounding angry”
Yes! I thought I had mixed it up and had to re-read. I almost never shorten in text (I almost said “never” but I do like to use “thru” instead of “through” for some reason).
Right? That and the fact that the iPhone turns two space bar taps into a period. So sometimes there’s a period at the end because I thought I was going to say something additional. Then I change my mind and have to delete the period so my kids don’t text me, “ru angry”
What's up with punctuation making us sound " angry" Teachers don't even use proper grammar or punctuation. My friends wife is a teacher and she openly says. " It takes too long, it's too slow to learn". (I'd love to have a Gen z working for me). I'd have them wrote up for commas
It is a completely contrived grievance that kids (and now young adults) have invented for no practical reason. Insecure Gen X parents are secretly afraid their children are going to go no contact and blame their parents for toxic childhoods that they like to imagine they were/are subject to, so the Gen X parents overcompensate by just letting their kids dictate what is appropriate communication etiquette, formal or informal.
My kids told me putting a period at the end of a sentence sounded angry because you had to take the extra step to type out a period. It was pointedly formal like using someone’s full name. (“Reginald, you’re in trouble!”)
Then I explained that if you just hit space twice it makes a period for you, and they immediately changed their interpretation.
i forget they didn't learn QWERTY keyboard typing. it's like a tenth of a second or less for me to hit period and just slightly more time to use the shift key combo for most of my other punctuation and it's muscle memory. I learned how to type like this in school. I am not thinking slow enough to consider that a pause for a punctuaion mark is going to affect the tone. Someone told me they don't teach kids to type anymore though so they don't really understand how touch typing even works insofar as how automatic it is to those of us who learned young. I typed 107wpm on a good day.
I took typing class in HS because it seemed like an easy elective, but it's turned into the most useful and beneficial class I had. I can't imagine having finger-pecked typed for all these years...
I spend way more time dumbing down my texts than it takes to write them properly. I guess I gotta turn off normal keyboard functions (auto capitalization/periods)? That just feels wrong.
I originally thought it was a joke that generations are becoming dumber, but not only are punctuations scary because a sentence should never be finished, but also paragraphs. Every time I see an unending wall of text I just just downvote it and move on. I am not even going to attempt to read it.
I would rather die than type like that. If I can’t type/write/text in proper English with proper spelling I just won’t. I do use ellipses a lot but I don’t use them at all like this article describes.
Maaaaybe when I first got a phone and was trying to put as much info as possible into a text because they were expensive and typing on a T9 keypad was a bit of a chore. But that hasn't been the case for a long time.
I remember typing like that in the early days of IRC.
I had this held over notion from high school that if you could understand what I meant, all the punctuation and spelling really didn’t matter. Then as I spent more time on IRC, I realized those kinds of things really shaped my perception whether a person was intelligent or not. It made a huge difference on how easy it was to understand them.
So I made a real effort to change. I still do it on text.
Being the writing pedant that I am, my texts and IMs were always annoyingly well-written and punctuated. Spelling, on the other hand, was a different story.
Early text messages were limited to 128(?) characters so you had to abbreviate. When I got my first smartphone, I made it a point to type out every word instead of shortening them.
I remember kids typing like that before texting or cellphones, almost. The reason given was usually that they were at a computer keyboard (back then) but hadn't learned to type formally and found the abbreviations easier
Me either. In fact I remember our generation getting pretty annoyed at the youths who suddenly began typing like that. We made fun of it and felt superior for using full words and punctuation. I remember! yells at cloud
Telling that they lumped us in with our parents for no good reason except that they allegedly sometimes do the same thing. But I think it's actually not really Gen X that overuses ellipses where they don't make any sense. I don't know if it's even an age distinction rather than a tech competency issue.
This article seems exactly backward. I spell all words out. I use all the punctuation, including the period at the end of a one-sentence text. I pay attention to grammar. Basically, I use proper English in texts and posts. I feel like it’s people younger than me who use text shorthand like “r u ok?”
This. I know Gen-X is easy to overlook and all but we aren’t Boomers. What they describe is how my dad used to text.
We spent our young adulthood futilely teaching our Boomer parents netiquette (remember that word?). If anyone knows how to communicate online, it’s us. We invented it.
I stopped there too. I’m genx and I’ve been accused of being passive aggressive by everyone younger than me for using complete words, sentences and punctuation.
This is an awful, unresearched article filled with wild speculation. Also, Boomers and Gen X cannot be conflated “for ease of reference” and do not use the ellipsis the same way. Garbage.
They're extremely ignorant of Gen X...case in point from the article:
Gen X: R u ok
Gen Z: Are you okay??
Clearly, these people have NO idea what they're talking about.
I literally don't know a single person from my generation that would type 'R u ok' unless they wanted me to know they were being held against their will.
Overuse of ellipsis is due to a fear of finalizing a statement with a period, that requires commitment. Therefore gen x must have a fear of commitment. QED
It was drilled into me in typing class. My wife was a type setter at one time for print shop and never double spaced either. She also thought the Oxford comma wasn’t needed because of her type setting training. Anything to save space. That was probably one of the biggest bone of contention between us. It drove me nuts.
I had some millennials (I guess) working for me, and I would often use an ellipsis…they thought I was being passive aggressive…then I had to direct them to the definition of an ellipsis…
” The omission of a word or phrase necessary for a complete syntactical construction but not necessary for understanding”
If I sent a text to my kids,asking, "R U OK?" they would instantly know that's not me. I didn't spend all that time learning proper English to write like that. No offense to Prince, of course.
I thought GenZ got upset by the use of ellipses because, like every single thing that does not align with what they want, the use of ellipses causes unfathomable permanent emotional anguish.
I am guilty of misusing (and overusing) ellipses, BUT at least I know the difference between “lose” and “loose,” “your and you’re,” and even “there, their, and there.”
"Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you've been to college." -Kurt Vonnegut
Take that as you may; he was a satirist after all...
I got over the misuse of there/they’re/their, for me it’s threw and through. 😑. And when they use are instead of our… I don’t even know how that gets misused… but it does!
I am an unapologetic lover of the ellipsis. I am appalled by the assertion that other punctuation could be duplicated for similar effect. Multiple commas to indicate a pause? No, the ellipsis is its own mark consisting of three dots. You wouldn't put seven apostrophes around a quotation and call them quote marks, would you?
Then again, I also spell everything out and use all punctuation. I also write in cursive. It's surprising I'm not "typing" in Morse code, now that I think of it.
I feel sorry for some of the young kids. They spend all their time looking for shit to be offended or mad about. Its like chill out kids. You will be old and bitching soon enough, don't waste your youth doing it. LOL
A bit of both. Most things have a clickbait element to them anymore. The outrage machine makes money. I've seen enough people that take time to post a video bitching about this... Or the thumbs up, other dumb shit. I didn't read the article, I've seen people bitching about this subject for awhile now.
Seriously. Finding passive and micro and whatever other aggressions in punctuation is about the most ignorant thing I’ve ever heard. Use your words…stop assuming I care enough to hurt your damn feelings on the down low.
I know, right? There are real generational differences here. My boomer parents overuse capital letters, always put periods at the end of text messages where it really does seem passive aggressive in tone, and unbroken texts written as though they are letters, complete with salutations every time.
I’m Gen X and definitely use ellipses…when I mean to convey that I’m thinking and maybe the thought isn’t fully developed. In general I use punctuation in texts when I’m not too much in a hurry but tend to leave the period off the last phrase of the text so it doesn’t sound too final and angry. I don’t read into it too much when younger folks use or don’t use punctuation in the middle of texts. Have we come back around on this? Are Gen Z the new boomers??
I don't know about y'all.... but I was taught about how to use ellipses (and parentheses) in English class in middle school.
It's just a form of language drift, like how certain words and names and such fall in and out of favor over time. How many of us still double-space after a period or other punctuation mark? How about an em--dash or en-dash?
This are all just great examples that language changes, and does so in real time that we can see.
Apparently it's no longer de rigeur. I was taught to type that way and had to un-learn it by the time I got to graduate school a few years later. Something to do with WYSIWYG word processing versus a typewriter, perhaps?
The thing is, most word processing programs will take out the double space automatically--mainly because they were programmed by Gen-X programmers. This is especially true of texting platforms.
The double space was necessary for kerning reasons in the days of print. While it's not necessary now, it's also not something that "breaks" anything, and is fine to use (but it will date you to a reader). Modern keyboard classes aren't teaching it, so it'll die off naturally.
Has this person ever met anyone over 40? That photo of what appears to be a Silent Generation woman - is that supposed to depict Gen X? Just say you hate us and don't understand anything beyond your own limited experience and be done with it.
This might be one of the most made up and self-aggrandizing articles I’ve seen in a while.
Personally, I don’t know any Gen X who constantly uses ellipses like that. If so, I’m completely out of the loop.
Also, saying Gen X would send “RU OK” and Gen Z would send “Are you okay??” is pretty rich coming from the generation that answers half of their texts “k”.
I’m all for pointing out the interesting differences we all have, but this writer sounds like she got a couple messages with ellipses which prompted her to spend a full 20 minutes searching Google for some facts to put in her article.
I have nothing against Gen Z. I have everything against people (regardless of age) writing off-the-cuff articles that are supposed to inform us of something. Hannah probably spoke to a total of zero people to get her informed opinions for both sides of the issue.
Yea. That one got me too. I don’t like the shortners. That might be a holdover for some people from when they were texting on flip phones and didn’t want to press too many buttons.
The k I think is more a millennial thing and again it’s likely more common for people that grew up with nine button keyboards. Now to think of it, r u ok is also more likely a millennial thing. Because GenX was still busy actually using the phone for voice during the flip phone era. It was the millennials that started texting on flip phones during their school.
That’s a really good point. I didn’t understand T9 texting. Took for-fucking-ever. As an adult who could step out whenever to make a call, it almost never made sense or saved time.
Kids at school? All the time in the world to send texts, but impossible to make a call. My millennial niece and nephew know all the shorthand.
I was called out by my own gen z and borderline alpha kids for using…I didn’t know their issue with it. Still don’t, but I know I’m not the only one who’s getting called unc for it.
Cause Gen x grew up with 160 character phones where you had to push the button 3 times to get a C or an E, or 4 times to get an S. We had to maximise space cause here in Australia they were 25c per text... like how I finished that?
I definitely use ellipses a lot.. but as a parent of millennial and gen z kids my experience hasn’t even been close to what the author describes.
In my experience millennials and gen x rarely use punctuation. They don’t seem to have a real understanding of punctuation.
this author is trying to explain to their peers that they're likely misunderstanding text messages from older generations. it's not a judgement against us, but an attempt at a primer/translation guide for gen z. i know that the youngins in my life have been like "you mad?" after i sent what i thought was a perfectly friendly message. i've since made an effort to try and keep up with the ever-evolving nuances of texting but they move fast.
i can remember getting very formal-sounding letters from elders in my family that made me wonder if they were pissed at me. (sometimes they were, lol; but often they were not.)
I do use ellipses and I do find it interesting if Gen X has a tendency to use them since to me it’s a personal choice. I use them when it seems odd to just have a period at the end of my sentence. I often use a dash as well. It just seems to better match my thinking or how I’d speak it.
There's a distinction to be made between people who use them correctly and people who use them in place of some other type of punctuation, which this article does not address. I want to know... about people... who write... like this... for no reason. Not people who actually do it correctly...
This article is focused on... whatever.
GenX write short messages because we started with T9 texting on a Nokia.
Each SMS cost a lot of money.
Each character counts.
I knew a girl who used ellipsis a lot. It always made me a little uneasy, like a boss who scheduled a meeting in the office for a “friendly chat.” The absence of context is unnerving.
I don't think it's true that Gen X doesn't try to convey meaning through the way they write something. Everyone tries to convey meaning that way, or there would only be single option.
eeksie-peeksie@reddit
I had trouble understanding their example of Gen X texting. Why was BUY capitalized? I’d be confused if I got that text as well. Make sure to BUY groceries… as opposed to what? Stealing them?
JustPlainJaneToday@reddit
Maybe that was a Janes Addiction throwback…
PeptoBismark@reddit
When I want some thin mints I don't wanna pay for it
Dot dot dot
JustPlainJaneToday@reddit
Walk right
grantij@reddit
That only happened...once.
raletti@reddit
When he was five...
Corporate-Scum@reddit
Comedic timing! We grew up with actual writers and actors who were blessed at communicating nuances that have steadily declined for the last 40 years. Our writing has personality because we had to actually learn grammar and how to spell. Oh… and we’re cynical too!
DeinoTrainer96@reddit
I stopped reading when they said Gen X would write out “R U Ok?”
That is the first time I’ve ever typed that out. Now, ellipsis, on the other hand…
eeksie-peeksie@reddit
I read and re-read that section of the article because I thought they’d gotten it wrong. I write out my words and my kids shorten. And I get in trouble for using punctuation and “sounding angry”
DeinoTrainer96@reddit
Yes! I thought I had mixed it up and had to re-read. I almost never shorten in text (I almost said “never” but I do like to use “thru” instead of “through” for some reason).
NecroFoul99@reddit
I like to also pepper in a tho’ or an ‘em from time to time as well.
hu_gnew@reddit
COBOL programmers used "thru" a lot.
brickfrenzy@reddit
So do designers / drafters. "THRU" is used on drawings to designate a through hole.
centexAwesome@reddit
All my variables still start with ws_
DreadPirateZoidberg@reddit
I’ll sometimes use ‘yer’ in place of your/you’re as a shortcut but to give a bit of lighthearted personality to what I’m writing.
Ok_Objective_9524@reddit
It’s not common but still useful when informing wizards that they are in fact wizards.
Mihailis27@reddit
I think that abbreviation is natural to us because of "drive-thru"s becoming popular during our youth.
JohnSpikeKelly@reddit
I use thru and tho. I must be getting lazy.
Squirrel_gravy_@reddit
same - ive used thru many times today alone.
tindalos@reddit
Your thruput must be up
Billsolson@reddit
My kids thought it would be funny to mimic my texts.
When I didn’t respond they brought it up at dinner.
I told them I assumed after repeatedly being chastised for poor grammar and punctuation, that they finally were getting it.
Not the case. I then followed up with, so you have the skill and ability , you just choose to write like you are illiterate.
DigasInHell@reddit
The number of times I’ve had to explain that a text includes a period because it was a full sentence and no other reason…
eeksie-peeksie@reddit
Right? That and the fact that the iPhone turns two space bar taps into a period. So sometimes there’s a period at the end because I thought I was going to say something additional. Then I change my mind and have to delete the period so my kids don’t text me, “ru angry”
Kidfacekicker@reddit
What's up with punctuation making us sound " angry" Teachers don't even use proper grammar or punctuation. My friends wife is a teacher and she openly says. " It takes too long, it's too slow to learn". (I'd love to have a Gen z working for me). I'd have them wrote up for commas
BikeInternational412@reddit
*friend’s wife :)
flowerqu@reddit
It is a completely contrived grievance that kids (and now young adults) have invented for no practical reason. Insecure Gen X parents are secretly afraid their children are going to go no contact and blame their parents for toxic childhoods that they like to imagine they were/are subject to, so the Gen X parents overcompensate by just letting their kids dictate what is appropriate communication etiquette, formal or informal.
flumberbuss@reddit
My kids told me putting a period at the end of a sentence sounded angry because you had to take the extra step to type out a period. It was pointedly formal like using someone’s full name. (“Reginald, you’re in trouble!”)
Then I explained that if you just hit space twice it makes a period for you, and they immediately changed their interpretation.
_ism_@reddit
i forget they didn't learn QWERTY keyboard typing. it's like a tenth of a second or less for me to hit period and just slightly more time to use the shift key combo for most of my other punctuation and it's muscle memory. I learned how to type like this in school. I am not thinking slow enough to consider that a pause for a punctuaion mark is going to affect the tone. Someone told me they don't teach kids to type anymore though so they don't really understand how touch typing even works insofar as how automatic it is to those of us who learned young. I typed 107wpm on a good day.
PhilliePhanatical@reddit
I took typing class in HS because it seemed like an easy elective, but it's turned into the most useful and beneficial class I had. I can't imagine having finger-pecked typed for all these years...
_ism_@reddit
we had no choice (catholic school computer lab with nuns doling out Mavis Beacon floppies in one hand and slappin' rulers in the other)
positivitittie@reddit
I spend way more time dumbing down my texts than it takes to write them properly. I guess I gotta turn off normal keyboard functions (auto capitalization/periods)? That just feels wrong.
tmf_x@reddit
yeah anytime I text my kids and put a period at the end of a sentence they ask whats wrong, why im angry, etc.
srelysian@reddit
I originally thought it was a joke that generations are becoming dumber, but not only are punctuations scary because a sentence should never be finished, but also paragraphs. Every time I see an unending wall of text I just just downvote it and move on. I am not even going to attempt to read it.
ck4fromla@reddit
I came here to say this, and my GenZ kids would agree with me (a rare event).
underbitefalcon@reddit
I would rather die than type like that. If I can’t type/write/text in proper English with proper spelling I just won’t. I do use ellipses a lot but I don’t use them at all like this article describes.
rwphx2016@reddit
I don't know any Gen Xer who would text "R U OK?" Most of my friends and I text in complete sentences and use correct punctuation.
Multigrain_Migraine@reddit
Maaaaybe when I first got a phone and was trying to put as much info as possible into a text because they were expensive and typing on a T9 keypad was a bit of a chore. But that hasn't been the case for a long time.
einTier@reddit
I remember typing like that in the early days of IRC.
I had this held over notion from high school that if you could understand what I meant, all the punctuation and spelling really didn’t matter. Then as I spent more time on IRC, I realized those kinds of things really shaped my perception whether a person was intelligent or not. It made a huge difference on how easy it was to understand them.
So I made a real effort to change. I still do it on text.
rwphx2016@reddit
Being the writing pedant that I am, my texts and IMs were always annoyingly well-written and punctuated. Spelling, on the other hand, was a different story.
AlpineVW@reddit
Early text messages were limited to 128(?) characters so you had to abbreviate. When I got my first smartphone, I made it a point to type out every word instead of shortening them.
_ism_@reddit
I remember kids typing like that before texting or cellphones, almost. The reason given was usually that they were at a computer keyboard (back then) but hadn't learned to type formally and found the abbreviations easier
Multigrain_Migraine@reddit
I mean we did do a bit of that as "skater" graffiti back in the day but I don't know about the typing thing. We just thought it was cool.
_ism_@reddit
Me either. In fact I remember our generation getting pretty annoyed at the youths who suddenly began typing like that. We made fun of it and felt superior for using full words and punctuation. I remember! yells at cloud
rwphx2016@reddit
YES!!!!
Brief_Age3253@reddit
I have a cousin that does it but, I don’t think he can spell are or you.
rgmyers26@reddit
Me too! It was such a clear, obvious sign that the author hasn’t the slightest fucking clue of what they’re talking about…
Multigrain_Migraine@reddit
Telling that they lumped us in with our parents for no good reason except that they allegedly sometimes do the same thing. But I think it's actually not really Gen X that overuses ellipses where they don't make any sense. I don't know if it's even an age distinction rather than a tech competency issue.
rgmyers26@reddit
I really think it’s a basic grammar thing.
Thirsty-Barbarian@reddit
This article seems exactly backward. I spell all words out. I use all the punctuation, including the period at the end of a one-sentence text. I pay attention to grammar. Basically, I use proper English in texts and posts. I feel like it’s people younger than me who use text shorthand like “r u ok?”
_ism_@reddit
exactly, i remember when "R U OK?" would sound like THEY were mad because my perception was if they were calm they'd type it out properly.
PhilliePhanatical@reddit
Plus it's in all caps, like they're screaming at you.
AlpineVW@reddit
k
einTier@reddit
This. I know Gen-X is easy to overlook and all but we aren’t Boomers. What they describe is how my dad used to text.
We spent our young adulthood futilely teaching our Boomer parents netiquette (remember that word?). If anyone knows how to communicate online, it’s us. We invented it.
RockKenwell@reddit
Solid GenX, came here to make this exact comment! I would never type “R U Ok?”
mightbealivemaybe@reddit
Same, and now I have "Smooth Criminal" stuck in my head. Alien Ant Farm version...
Ill-Crew-5458@reddit
Yeah I stopped reading after that. The author had it all backwards. Wtf
Zestyclose_Goal2347@reddit
I won't change "are" to "R" but I will change "on my way" to "omw". That started with ASL for crying out loud!
bowlgar@reddit
Reminds me of the freeway sign scene in LA Story when Steve Martin pronounces R U Ok like it’s a word.
https://i.redd.it/fqef06melyre1.gif
Mihailis27@reddit
Criminally underrated movie...
PresidentSuperDog@reddit
So much Enya appreciation in that movie
_ism_@reddit
reminds me of my mother asking "What does SILL mean why is my son saying SILL on all his texts, who is SILL???"
he was texting SYL - See You Later
ChipEvans@reddit
I stopped there too. I’m genx and I’ve been accused of being passive aggressive by everyone younger than me for using complete words, sentences and punctuation.
KetoLurkerHereAgain@reddit
Is that an us thing?? I love a good ellipsis! Or do I...
katiehatesjazz@reddit
I know I do…I really do
_ism_@reddit
it's really an evocative tool if you use it right...
FAHQRudy@reddit
L.A. Story was the first place I saw that and then Steve Martin reads it phonetically: “rroo-awk?”
tke73@reddit
Same. I was interested in the premise of the paper but that line killed all credibility.
ILoveCreatures@reddit
I agree! I kept thinking they had it accidentally reversed. I’d never text like that.
thatguygreg@reddit
Maybe we did that when we were kids on IRC or something, now? Write that shit properly, FFS.
Willing_Arm_7044@reddit
This reminded me of mIRC…
the_spinetingler@reddit
right? That's everyone after us.
mr_oof@reddit
…
TwistedNightlight@reddit
How about you never fucking lump us in with Baby Boomers again!
Otto0027@reddit
This is an awful, unresearched article filled with wild speculation. Also, Boomers and Gen X cannot be conflated “for ease of reference” and do not use the ellipsis the same way. Garbage.
Winter-Fondant7875@reddit
Maybe it was written by AI. That could explain the fact checking.
groovemonkey@reddit
The em-dashes are always a dead giveaway…or are they?
Winter-Fondant7875@reddit
personally - I love em-dashes... and ellipses... and other punctuations (they're thoughts within thoughts... and similar digressions)
asscheese2000@reddit
Or maybe not… who knows…
saint_ryan@reddit
Well…it does make some good points.
Ti47_867@reddit
Three of them…
Im_tracer_bullet@reddit
They're extremely ignorant of Gen X...case in point from the article:
Gen X: R u ok
Gen Z: Are you okay??
Clearly, these people have NO idea what they're talking about.
I literally don't know a single person from my generation that would type 'R u ok' unless they wanted me to know they were being held against their will.
gravitydefiant@reddit
I know one. But only one, and every time I wonder how she's texting me from 2008.
Lovesyubreddit@reddit
We don’t do the ellipsis. Boomers do. And we hate it.
purple_sangria@reddit
Idk, I kinda use it a lot…
Cheese-Manipulator@reddit
Overuse of ellipsis is due to a fear of finalizing a statement with a period, that requires commitment. Therefore gen x must have a fear of commitment. QED
idiotsbydesign@reddit
There's probably an emoji that conveys the same point as my ellipses but I don't have time to go through pages of emojis when I can just...
fromindia1@reddit (OP)
And what point is that.... ?
idiotsbydesign@reddit
Not sure.....
fromindia1@reddit (OP)
Hmm…
beendall@reddit
😂😂😂
Nero3k@reddit
Wait until they find out about the two spaces after a period. It’ll probably drive them insane. Then they’ll…
slade797@reddit
I stopped doing that when I became a newspaper reporter.
Nero3k@reddit
It was drilled into me in typing class. My wife was a type setter at one time for print shop and never double spaced either. She also thought the Oxford comma wasn’t needed because of her type setting training. Anything to save space. That was probably one of the biggest bone of contention between us. It drove me nuts.
fromindia1@reddit (OP)
What am I missing about the spaces?
It drives me nuts too. For some reason I can tell just at a glance that something is off, and then I HAVE to go fix it.
AtomicHurricaneBob@reddit
Pick up the damn phone and have a conversation...
fromindia1@reddit (OP)
I know, right?
suckmytitzbitch@reddit
How did you . . . not know???
fromindia1@reddit (OP)
Just didn’t…you know….
suckmytitzbitch@reddit
Well . . . 🤷🏻♀️
fromindia1@reddit (OP)
Hmm...
AintAllFlowerz@reddit
JFC this is the dumbest thing I’ve read on the Internet today…
fromindia1@reddit (OP)
Ha ha.
DisasterDalek@reddit
I've never used them as that article states...
I use them as a kind of "sigh" or "really?" at the end of a statement...or string 2 thoughts together
8reticus@reddit
I unapologetically wield an ellipsis like it’s a +5 rapier of passive aggressive mild annoyance.
marksfleming@reddit
Love the dots…it’s like the old Larry King column in USA Today. Crazy old man ramblings…with a break to catch his breath
PhilliePhanatical@reddit
R U OK...R U OK ANNIE?
Key_City_3152@reddit
I had some millennials (I guess) working for me, and I would often use an ellipsis…they thought I was being passive aggressive…then I had to direct them to the definition of an ellipsis…
” The omission of a word or phrase necessary for a complete syntactical construction but not necessary for understanding”
Still not sure they liked it…
Bostonterrierpug@reddit
As if…
cometshoney@reddit
If I sent a text to my kids,asking, "R U OK?" they would instantly know that's not me. I didn't spend all that time learning proper English to write like that. No offense to Prince, of course.
fusionsofwonder@reddit
I will cut a bitch.
ultimate_ed@reddit
And you can borrow my spoon to do it with.
ggibby@reddit
"...because it will HURT MORE!" :-)
ultimate_ed@reddit
God, I miss Alan Rickman.
ChapterOk4000@reddit
Honestly, we mainly use ellipsis at the end of sentences to trail off because that was when we realized nobody was listening to us, as usual...
Left-Thinker-5512@reddit
I thought GenZ got upset by the use of ellipses because, like every single thing that does not align with what they want, the use of ellipses causes unfathomable permanent emotional anguish.
ZebraBorgata@reddit
I’m a regular user of ellipses!
Guilty-Pen1152@reddit
I am guilty of misusing (and overusing) ellipses, BUT at least I know the difference between “lose” and “loose,” “your and you’re,” and even “there, their, and there.”
KetoLurkerHereAgain@reddit
Me too. I also love semicolons and use them willy-nilly.
Genericname187329465@reddit
"Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you've been to college." -Kurt Vonnegut
Take that as you may; he was a satirist after all...
Dry_Tourist_1232@reddit
Semicolons are my favorite; I use them often!
micharala@reddit
Ever since this Oatmeal comic about semicolons, I’ve mostly gotten the use down!
pearlgirl10@reddit
I got over the misuse of there/they’re/their, for me it’s threw and through. 😑. And when they use are instead of our… I don’t even know how that gets misused… but it does!
VolupVeVa@reddit
don't forget the differences between weary, leery and wary
percydaman@reddit
I can sometimes excuse all of those (especially with autocorrect), but never the "loose/lose" mistake. That has become a major pet peeve of mine.
Guilty-Pen1152@reddit
I’m going to “loose” my mind if I see it again. 😝
TeeLeighPee@reddit
Who are you going to loose it at?
Guilty-Pen1152@reddit
Everyone 😝
Guilty-Pen1152@reddit
M
Guilty-Pen1152@reddit
DUH I thought I typed “they’re” and typed “there” instead.
AwesomeHB@reddit
I’m begging GenZ and their cultural critics to read a book, any book, published before 2000. I…am… begging… you.
ggibby@reddit
I heard this in Mr. Giles' voice.
fromindia1@reddit (OP)
Not gonna lie. That is passive aggressive and you aren’t even trying to hide it. Haha.
Genericname187329465@reddit
I am an unapologetic lover of the ellipsis. I am appalled by the assertion that other punctuation could be duplicated for similar effect. Multiple commas to indicate a pause? No, the ellipsis is its own mark consisting of three dots. You wouldn't put seven apostrophes around a quotation and call them quote marks, would you?
Then again, I also spell everything out and use all punctuation. I also write in cursive. It's surprising I'm not "typing" in Morse code, now that I think of it.
Tholian_Bed@reddit
... I went to college. Not kidding. I did. Then...
Vulpine69@reddit
I feel sorry for some of the young kids. They spend all their time looking for shit to be offended or mad about. Its like chill out kids. You will be old and bitching soon enough, don't waste your youth doing it. LOL
Multigrain_Migraine@reddit
Do the actual kids these pieces are written about care though? Or is it just stupid unresearched click bait shit stirring?
Vulpine69@reddit
A bit of both. Most things have a clickbait element to them anymore. The outrage machine makes money. I've seen enough people that take time to post a video bitching about this... Or the thumbs up, other dumb shit. I didn't read the article, I've seen people bitching about this subject for awhile now.
Divtos@reddit
Yea, maybe not, no.
Quick-Reputation9040@reddit
you know…we’d tell people if we were annoyed…
UnplannedProofreader@reddit
Seriously. Finding passive and micro and whatever other aggressions in punctuation is about the most ignorant thing I’ve ever heard. Use your words…stop assuming I care enough to hurt your damn feelings on the down low.
Extension_Main4865@reddit
Right. I have no issue expressing myself
Librarianatrix@reddit
I love ellipses. And I almost never shorten things in texts.
Mission_Ad_8976@reddit
"For ease of writing, I’m including the Baby Boomer generation (1946-1964) in with Gen X..."
FFS...
Ill-Crew-5458@reddit
For ease of thinking...
Ti47_867@reddit
For ease of writing…
EthanDMatthews@reddit
For ease of writing, I'm including Spanish people in my lazy generalizations about Germans.
Three things Germans love most: lederhosen, tapas, and bullfighting.
wipekitty@reddit
I think you forgot sleeping late and siestas. Germans are well known for their extensive afternoon naps.
skoltroll@reddit
Well, hell. Never knew I was a Spanish German.
Nerdysilverfox@reddit
I know, right? There are real generational differences here. My boomer parents overuse capital letters, always put periods at the end of text messages where it really does seem passive aggressive in tone, and unbroken texts written as though they are letters, complete with salutations every time.
I’m Gen X and definitely use ellipses…when I mean to convey that I’m thinking and maybe the thought isn’t fully developed. In general I use punctuation in texts when I’m not too much in a hurry but tend to leave the period off the last phrase of the text so it doesn’t sound too final and angry. I don’t read into it too much when younger folks use or don’t use punctuation in the middle of texts. Have we come back around on this? Are Gen Z the new boomers??
And where do we sit with lol vs. haha vs. :D?
mr_mxyzptlk21@reddit
I don't know about y'all.... but I was taught about how to use ellipses (and parentheses) in English class in middle school.
It's just a form of language drift, like how certain words and names and such fall in and out of favor over time. How many of us still double-space after a period or other punctuation mark? How about an em--dash or en-dash?
This are all just great examples that language changes, and does so in real time that we can see.
No_Row6741@reddit
How can one not double space between sentences?
Multigrain_Migraine@reddit
Apparently it's no longer de rigeur. I was taught to type that way and had to un-learn it by the time I got to graduate school a few years later. Something to do with WYSIWYG word processing versus a typewriter, perhaps?
mr_mxyzptlk21@reddit
The thing is, most word processing programs will take out the double space automatically--mainly because they were programmed by Gen-X programmers. This is especially true of texting platforms.
The double space was necessary for kerning reasons in the days of print. While it's not necessary now, it's also not something that "breaks" anything, and is fine to use (but it will date you to a reader). Modern keyboard classes aren't teaching it, so it'll die off naturally.
No_Row6741@reddit
I've heard, I just cannot use a single space.
Biggu5Dicku5@reddit
Checks out...
sageberrytree@reddit
She thinks genX doesn't use punctuation????.!! What the?
No. Other way around Chica.
Winter_Chickadee@reddit
Came here to say this.
And I usually type everything out in full….i’ve never texted “r u ok” because it looks like the sound someone makes while retching and hurts my brain.
Altrebelle@reddit
FUCK... damn it, there they are again! I use ellipsis, thought it was a me thing!!
...
Amyarchy@reddit
Has this person ever met anyone over 40? That photo of what appears to be a Silent Generation woman - is that supposed to depict Gen X? Just say you hate us and don't understand anything beyond your own limited experience and be done with it.
Thomisawesome@reddit
This might be one of the most made up and self-aggrandizing articles I’ve seen in a while.
Personally, I don’t know any Gen X who constantly uses ellipses like that. If so, I’m completely out of the loop.
Also, saying Gen X would send “RU OK” and Gen Z would send “Are you okay??” is pretty rich coming from the generation that answers half of their texts “k”.
I’m all for pointing out the interesting differences we all have, but this writer sounds like she got a couple messages with ellipses which prompted her to spend a full 20 minutes searching Google for some facts to put in her article.
I have nothing against Gen Z. I have everything against people (regardless of age) writing off-the-cuff articles that are supposed to inform us of something. Hannah probably spoke to a total of zero people to get her informed opinions for both sides of the issue.
But I’m not just a grumpy old man… or am I?
fromindia1@reddit (OP)
Yea. That one got me too. I don’t like the shortners. That might be a holdover for some people from when they were texting on flip phones and didn’t want to press too many buttons. The k I think is more a millennial thing and again it’s likely more common for people that grew up with nine button keyboards. Now to think of it, r u ok is also more likely a millennial thing. Because GenX was still busy actually using the phone for voice during the flip phone era. It was the millennials that started texting on flip phones during their school.
einTier@reddit
That’s a really good point. I didn’t understand T9 texting. Took for-fucking-ever. As an adult who could step out whenever to make a call, it almost never made sense or saved time.
Kids at school? All the time in the world to send texts, but impossible to make a call. My millennial niece and nephew know all the shorthand.
TheJokersChild@reddit
Lost me at Gen X being grouped in with boomers. So many things wrong with this article...
arothmanmusic@reddit
I use ellipses so often that ALT+0133 is as natural to type as & or @. That said… this article is garbage. :D
voxangelikus@reddit
What a dopey article…
PlausibleTable@reddit
I was called out by my own gen z and borderline alpha kids for using…I didn’t know their issue with it. Still don’t, but I know I’m not the only one who’s getting called unc for it.
NorthRoseGold@reddit
Fuck that's a lot of rules and implications I think I'm just going to stop texting altogether
tmf_x@reddit
This is a Gen X thing? Ive only seen my parents and people their age doing it.
RzrKitty@reddit
This is over-generalized and doesn’t make sense. I don’t know any Gen X or Gen Z who have those characteristics when texting.
Xrsyz@reddit
JFC these people are useless…
new2bay@reddit
The alternative in many cases is a comma, but they hate commas, too. 🤷♂️
Efficient-Editor-242@reddit
Yeah, the RU OK is crap, the ellipsis on the other hand...
i8myface@reddit
Cause Gen x grew up with 160 character phones where you had to push the button 3 times to get a C or an E, or 4 times to get an S. We had to maximise space cause here in Australia they were 25c per text... like how I finished that?
GrauntChristie@reddit
We did not grow up with phones. I did not get a cell phone until I was in my 20s. You’re thinking of elder millennials.
_ism_@reddit
oh i used to do this so much, i forgot how i kicked the habit!
GrauntChristie@reddit
I don’t know about Gen X ellipses. Am I supposed to?
Jolly_Security_4771@reddit
I feel like ol' Hannah only texts with one Gen Xer and wrote that whole article about them
pezazz2532@reddit
I’m proudly GenX, so I’ll just say … whatever
Mindless_Secret6074@reddit
I definitely use ellipses a lot.. but as a parent of millennial and gen z kids my experience hasn’t even been close to what the author describes. In my experience millennials and gen x rarely use punctuation. They don’t seem to have a real understanding of punctuation.
VolupVeVa@reddit
oy, calm yourselves, my brethren.
this author is trying to explain to their peers that they're likely misunderstanding text messages from older generations. it's not a judgement against us, but an attempt at a primer/translation guide for gen z. i know that the youngins in my life have been like "you mad?" after i sent what i thought was a perfectly friendly message. i've since made an effort to try and keep up with the ever-evolving nuances of texting but they move fast.
i can remember getting very formal-sounding letters from elders in my family that made me wonder if they were pissed at me. (sometimes they were, lol; but often they were not.)
fromindia1@reddit (OP)
You might be the best person to have around when things get heated during meeting or amongst friends.
Nice attitude! Or should I say nice attitude…. lol
Multigrain_Migraine@reddit
I get the intent but it seems based on factual inaccuracies.
molotok_c_518@reddit
I'm sure I'll read it... eventually...
BizarroMax@reddit
My kids ask me questions in text and I’ll answer with “Yes.” and they get upset because I’m being mean. By putting a period at the end.
BizarroMax@reddit
I hate how Gen Z can’t say anything without including “lol” at the end of every text. It is by far their most irritating communication quirk.
bigredthesnorer@reddit
Gen Jones entering the conversation…
GreatGreenGobbo@reddit
On this one project. The lead application designer had... Instead of a period at every sentence in his design document.
He got mad when I told him to change it.
FoleyV@reddit
So…anyway…
IdahoDuncan@reddit
Guilty
ILoveCreatures@reddit
I do use ellipses and I do find it interesting if Gen X has a tendency to use them since to me it’s a personal choice. I use them when it seems odd to just have a period at the end of my sentence. I often use a dash as well. It just seems to better match my thinking or how I’d speak it.
Multigrain_Migraine@reddit
There's a distinction to be made between people who use them correctly and people who use them in place of some other type of punctuation, which this article does not address. I want to know... about people... who write... like this... for no reason. Not people who actually do it correctly...
Express_Test6677@reddit
I’ve tried to stop using it…but I just can’t.
Blurghblagh@reddit
I use ellipsis all the time, but I also use full words and correct punctuation (as best I can)...
Realistic_Young9008@reddit
You could not pry my ellipses and air quotes from my cold dead sarcastic hands.
Samantha-Blair@reddit
I use it constantly, usually when I’m being sarcastic
Crusoebear@reddit
‘The lack of punctuation very subtly implies X has better things to do than send a text.‘
…yup, don’t care. Whatever. This is BS. I’m gonna get tacos.
Cobra-Lalalalalalala@reddit
To emphasize the dramatic…
Pause!
Thomisawesome@reddit
I see you shiver with antici…
pation!
Dark-Empath-@reddit
Pretty much anything which groups hundreds of millions of people into a single personality can be discounted as a gross generalisation or click bait.
4Bigdaddy73@reddit
My college aged daughters absolutely hate when I use ellipsis… so I use it in every text I send them.
landmesser@reddit
This article is focused on... whatever.
GenX write short messages because we started with T9 texting on a Nokia.
Each SMS cost a lot of money.
Each character counts.
KickstandSF@reddit
“many people (like members of Gen X) mean to use them as intended.” In other words, we use them correctly. Or do we…
Mrfixit729@reddit
Fuck…. I do this all the time.
Juicy-Lemon@reddit
This is possibly the most stupid article I have ever read
DearTumbleweed5380@reddit
That's me! Did not realise it was cos my generation.
Knight_thrasher@reddit
I would never send R u ok…
jackalopeswild@reddit
What utter drek.
geekaustin_777@reddit
You can’t eclipse the ellipse
KetoLurkerHereAgain@reddit
It's a total ellipsis of the heart.
Heinz37_sauce@reddit
For some of us former math nerds, it would be an ellipse of the heart.
gravitydefiant@reddit
... former?
cjlightf@reddit
🤨 Same. I’m not using T9 strategies in fucking 2025.
From the author’s examples, I’m generally able to discern their intent.
This kid just had a parent that used them that was emotionally abusive, or the kid was always doing stupid shit… Or both.
cjboffoli@reddit
Like… whatever.
BartStarrPaperboy@reddit
Do we give a shit what Gen Z thinks?
Puukkot@reddit
Well… that went to shit right off the get. “R U…?”
Never. This person knows nothing.
moscowramada@reddit
I knew a girl who used ellipsis a lot. It always made me a little uneasy, like a boss who scheduled a meeting in the office for a “friendly chat.” The absence of context is unnerving.
MowgeeCrone@reddit
Passive aggressive my arse. What bunch of needy fuck knuckles.......... no offence. 🖕
Alewort@reddit
I use ellipses because when I was learning how to write authors also used them and I like them.
Candygramformrmongo@reddit
Whatever …
some_one_234@reddit
That was a waste of 5 minutes…
KatJen76@reddit
I don't think it's true that Gen X doesn't try to convey meaning through the way they write something. Everyone tries to convey meaning that way, or there would only be single option.
elanadi@reddit
…don’t lump us in with the boomers…
Papa79tx@reddit
Because the newer gens don’t even know how to use standard punctuation… much less an ellipsis.
blak_plled_by_librls@reddit
So, other generations are ... uneducated about ellipsis.
No_Pineapple_3599@reddit
Wait till they hear about the interrobang!?&*
NL_Gray-Fox@reddit
Never knew the term for this... Guess I'll forget it now.
Upper-Affect5971@reddit
why do we to this…
Powerful_Ad_2506@reddit
Gen X: R u ok
Gen Z: Are you okay??
Yeah, credibility lost with this article.