She’s worn down by the exclamation invasion
Dear Annie: My brother recently told me that my sister-in-law (his wife) was anxious about an upcoming family lunch we’d both be at because she thought I was mad at her. The reason? I’d responded to one of her texts with “Thanks,” followed by a period. She thought because I didn’t use an exclamation point or emoji, I was being passive-aggressive. We cleared it up and are fine now (though it still bothers me a little bit that she went straight to assuming the worst).
At work, I’ve also noticed this trend toward exclamation points being the norm. A young woman started a few months ago. She is very sweet and upbeat — but in every email she sends, she uses about five exclamation points. Sometimes she ends a sentence with two or three of them.
It seems to be contagious because I’ve noticed exclamation points working their way into other co-workers’ emails with greater frequency. I am hoping by sticking to my guns and only using periods and commas, I can prevent an all-out exclamation invasion.
What do you think? Are exclamation points overused these days, or am I being a grumpy old lady?
— Punctuation Problems Dear Punctuation Problems: Exclamation points have become commonplace, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. For all the convenience of emails and texts, there is one major drawback: They lack tone. This is the problem that emojis and exclamation points seek to solve. I think they’re successful in that.
Still, I commend you for your de-exclamation efforts.
Dear Annie: This is regarding “Parents at Crossroads.” My son, now 23, was diagnosed with major depressive disorder at age 8. He was hospitalized for a suicide attempt several months later. I long ago lost count of the number of ER visits and police calls. At 23, he still lives at home.
I, however, have set some firm rules. To live at home he must take his medication each day. We use a weekly pill container to ensure compliance. He must attend counseling, and he had to list me as a person the office could give information to, so I could call to be sure he actually went.