The full stop in British English is a period in American English. This punctuation mark is used to end sentences. Its use is changing today. A report says it is "intimidating" to young people. They view it as a sign of anger, especially on social media. Many youngsters largely do not punctuate, except for lots of exclamation marks!!!!! A linguist said usage of full stops is being fundamentally 'revised'. He said people do not use them "unless they want to make a point".

A linguist said: "If you send a text message without a full stop, it's already obvious that you've concluded the message." A journalist wrote that a full stop is "simply not necessary" in text messages. She said: "It's clear when you've finished your thought, so what function does the period fulfill?…Using a period in messaging…can come across as if you're quite cross or annoyed." She added that full stops are being used to emphasise single words.