For many people, punctuation was just another part of grammar drilled into them through years of worksheets and reading books. Students were taught to understand commas as pauses, periods as the end of thoughts and capital letters as the beginning of new ones. But at some point, grammar stopped being thoughtless. Instead of acting as a fixed system of clarification between words and sentences, punctuation hasn’t evolved — it’s been overdone and overthought.
Grammar has transformed into a performance of aesthetics and new interpretations.
In an age where texting has become a largely dominant form of communication, the use of punctuation and syntax has inevitably evolved. As Lisa McLendon, a professor of journalism and mass communications at the University of Kansas claims, “Language evolves because people use it.”
Language is now used online as often as it is spoken face-to-face, so written grammar has begun to mirror modern patterns of speech. Texts are written with a tone that prioritizes natural conversation patterns over grammatical correctness. And because punctuation no longer functions as a neutral way to form sentences, it no longer holds a standardized presence. Instead, it has become an intentional choice to mirror the feeling, emotion and tone that would otherwise be felt through in-person body language.
To newer generations, periods may feel like blunt cutoffs. Unlike spoken language — which allows for elaborations and interruptions from others — a period provides a sense of finality. With text, where messages are often left open-ended to invite continued conversation, adding a period can seem deliberate and even distant. Punctuation once existed as a way to provide clarity. Now, periods do not only extinguish sentences but also conversations.
This same phenomenon occurs in capitalization. Gen Z has increasingly defaulted to a new style of grammatical normalcy: all lowercase writing. Thanks to auto-capitalization, writing in lowercase is not a matter of convenience but a stylistic choice. Lowercase writing softens someone’s tone, making messages feel more casual. By comparison, auto-capitalization can alter a message into sounding overly formal and reserved, creating a noticeable distance in everyday conversations. This disparity between the manner in which older and younger generations employ grammatical rules can create misinterpretations in parent-child communication,
At first, this new punctuation preference may seem like a new creative form of online communication. But from the standpoint of in-person communication, without a physical way of interpreting tone, young texters have begun to compensate with their creative liberties for the lack of tangible tells. The differences between “fine,” “fineee” and “fine.” are each independently characterized with a set of charged emotional motivations, and not universally objective. In this regard, punctuation appears to resemble an art form, a way of expressing oneself subjectively, depending on the interpretation of the audience. Each message sent becomes a curation of periods and commas based on intention rather than definition. But unlike art, which is arguably meant to encourage ambiguous messages, language is meant to reduce miscommunication and set in place a clear message.
It’s safe to say that technology will continue to evolve, and our way of communicating in the future will evolve alongside it. But if we continue to place new meanings and connotations in our everyday language through online communication, our generation and those to come will run the risk of compromising clarity and organic human interaction.
A reliable way to structure communication is now influenced by the unfolding of technology at a rapid pace. And now, as Gen Z overanalyzes the intention of a few words on our screens — which can lead to confusion, anxiety or even stress for young people — punctuation has been given a new life — but at what cost?
When every last punctuation mark takes on a modern meaning unevenly understood by the masses, it is no longer safe to take anything at face value.
Michaela Okuyama is an Opinion Staff Writer. She can be reached at okuyamam@uci.edu.
Edited by Ruby Goodwin and Joshua Gonzales.
