6 Comments

This was such an excellent and interesting read, I particularly liked your point on the use of punctuation cushioning in order to shape how communication is perceived due to lack of physical cues.

I found myself also thinking about how you could also look at the act of liking a text as a way to signal the end of a conversation, as opposed to just leaving the other person on read. While it doesn’t include the same use of punctuation, it applies the same concept of cushioning in order to come across as polite. Will definitely be subscribing, looking forward to reading more essays from you😊

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Hi Nasra! Thank you so much for reading my piece. Your example of liking a text vs. leaving someone on read is so interesting because the feature is also a recent addition to the design of text messaging, meaning that a tech company itself (Apple!) is adding more cues and nuances into our communication. Something once naturally formulated is now technologically designed—I wonder what this will mean for us humans!

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Ellen, I'm learning about linguistics from you. Thank you !

Your writing flows so easily it's a pleasure to read. I had noticed the spaces and wondered about them but not realized they were meaningful.

susan plunket

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Thank you so much for reading and supporting my work, Susan! I like to think that every way we stylize and frame our language has a meaning—consciously applied or not. I truly feel that punctuation is an art.

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punctuation cushioning is such an interesting linguistic concept, and i loved reading about it from you (especially with the academic paper’s perspective)! the point about affiliation with subcultures and attempting to come off as gentle are both such fascinating points that i’ve definitely noticed myself. your writing is amazing; i look forward to reading more wonderful essays by you 🤍

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Thank you so much for reading!

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