Perpetual Notion

I was just looking at the title of an entry in a friend’s blog. He used an exclamation point. I thought maybe I would have gone with the trailing off three periods. Are they called something? Then I started to think about how we as different people utilize different punctuation.

Now at some point or another we all use the variety of available standard punctuation marks, and our selection really depends upon the context. But beyond that there is a favoritism. Certain markings are used by some more than others. The decision can be a conscious one, where the person really wants to create a particular mood or emphasis for the sentence. And other times, the selected punctuation may just be what comes naturally. I do go both ways, but there are moments when I tend to spend more time dwelling over the placement of a comma than I should. I do like commas.

I very rarely use an exclamation point. Sometimes in emails I will if there is something truly deserving of such excitement. Mostly I do not. There are folks that I know who just love exclamation. At least every other sentence must end in an exclamation point, and sometimes three. This carries over to their spoken life as well. Every story is the best story ever told. It might only be about waiting in line at the library, but it was an amazing wait! Everything happened! So great! Do these people stop to breath? Do they ever come down from such elation? Is it real? I respect and admire the ability to share one’s passion with others, but in some of these cases I question their sincerity.

Then there are periods. A period seems so definitive. And that is the way it is. Period. Every sentence is final. We are no longer discussing this subject, the verb, or the adjectives. Case closed, let us move on. I see people talk this way. Sometimes it is even central to their personality. It can work for, or against you. One person could be regarded as a sage, always saying wise things with an absolute tone of finality. Another might come off as an argumentative jerk. The period is a mark of confidence. You stand unwavering beside your statement. It is the cold command of a supervisor as well as the warm instruction of a father. I have my claims that I may hold tight, though in general I stray from such a resolute stance as that of the period.

Ellipsis? Is that what the three periods are called? I would say that I use these more often than average… You find them at the end of a fairytale. It implies that the story does not end here. An ellipsis makes the sentence suggestive. What has been stated in the sentence is even up for deliberation. Speaking with ellipsis is a loose form of language. The exchange becomes less about the statement and more about the idea, with a possibility for more ideas. Instead of striving for the final say, as in many discussions, the goal is perpetual notions.* This direction can be less concise and well… less directed. Perhaps conceiving more and accomplishing less. I walk in line with this. A wandering mind and scattered vocalizations.

Three seperate ways to more or less end a sentence. A case study of conversation projected to the greater scale of everyday life and our interaction within it. Where do you suppose you fit in to this mix? Do you lean on any particular punctuation more than the rest? Does it shine out in your daily social exchange? Are we what we speak?

*The website’s name began here. I originally started writing this segment some months back. Though the post is only going up now, I was able to put the phrase to quicker use.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 17th, 2007 at 11:33 am and is filed under writing.