Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Robin
The concept that not everyone accepts his personal preferences in every single aspect of life as fundamental and immutable laws of the Cosmos is one that particular commenter hasn't managed to grasp yet. You get used to it after a while
I grew up calling them "full stops" too - though it was only when I got older that I realized the reason for the name was likely to differentiate them from the "partial stop" of other punctuation marks like commas and semi-colons.
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Well, it IS a matter of being able to communicate, which intends willingness to be clear about your intentions and open to interpreting the intentions of others. And not always can we intuit, what "the other" regards as normal, deviant and obnoxious, and neither can "the other" in regards to me/you.
In Danish "punktum" [from Latin "point, prick, puncture"], the etymology of which is contained in the "punctuation marks".
"Period" derives from Latin also, meaning "full sentence", which refers
back to the content following the previous period, indicating a partial stop in the full flow, while the origin of "full stop" is unclear, even if obvious in meaning, like a stop sign at an intersection: [before moving on come to a complete standstill], which also indicates flow, but does not look back, does not reflect; it just waits - to be able to go on!
Even if the purpose of the two is the same [end and beginning] the root cause is not the same thing: "period" lends itself to the quality of content [here a full sentence ends] as well as the author's intentionality [it is not a mistake], while full stop in the flow of thought and meaning solely indicates... well, that you stop. But like a musical score is a document of instrument sound durations, which the composer need not explain in any other way, using a "full stop"
could indicate a quality in the "duration" of pauses:
The partial stop or
brief pause of elements of connected meaning (comma), the pause of listing (possibly autonomous) elements [semi-colon], the interjection of the forgotten and the expansion of meaning (parentheses and dash) etc. - all speak of relevance of pause
length or
duration.
While many people are aware of the importance of pauses
to music, the importance of the Music of Pauses
in writing is a less known and respected notation:
Listen to someone reading from un-rhymed poetry, while following the lines of the poem yourself; most people will ignore the qualities embedded in the use of punctuation and broken and empty lines - to just read the poem however they want, throw stresses around where ever they want, pause when ever they want, and basically ignore the whole point of punctuation:
Tension.
That the text contains a quality, which is not in the words themselves, but in the reader's respect for the pauses - and thus for [how long a pause?] - which is ALSO the writer seen respecting the reader respecting the writer: a communication between people, who will never meet - rather than simply information about a topic delivered TO the reader as the goods being paid for with money or time.
Do you see that possible quality of difference between the period and the full stop? The author's flow vs. MY flow [and why do I have to STOP here?]. The author's text vs. MY text [I damn well bought it!]. Art vs. consumption?
Again, from latin: Punctuations are marks, holes, which CAUSE the sentences - in the same way obstacles in the road give quality to moving, when you think about it afterwards.