# Using periods for emphasis **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 13, 2024, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-periods-for-emphasis/1011620 "2024-12-13T22:00:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-periods-for-emphasis/1011620/1 "2024-12-13T22:00:08Z")
There’s a punctuation style that seems to have appeared relatively recently where the writer puts a period (full stop) after each word in a sentence or phrase to indicate that each word is to be emphasized individually, with a short pause after each word. Often the words are also capitalized. Like > That was the Best. Concert. Ever. > Must. Stop. Eating. Now. > I am Really. Tired. Of. This. Affectation. I think it’s trying to reproduce a verbal rhetorical style that I associate with Comic Book Guy on The Simpsons. My impression is the written form is fairly new; within the last 10 years or less. Is that accurate? Is it possible to identify a specific source of this style? ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-periods-for-emphasis/1011620/2 "2024-12-13T22:03:45Z")
I thought accounts at the time of the “Read my lips. No. New. Taxes.” quote (1988) would have the periods but it doesn’t seem that way. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-periods-for-emphasis/1011620/3 "2024-12-13T22:19:14Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I think it’s trying to reproduce a verbal rhetorical style that I associate with Comic Book Guy on The Simpsons. My impression is the written form is fairly new; within the last 10 years or less. Is that accurate? Is it possible to identify a specific source of this style? It might be from the Comic Book Guy, but it’s definitely older than 10 years; I found a _13_ year old StackExchange [thread](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/41078/name-and-origin-of-writing-with-period-after-each-word) asking about it. Which also speculated it was from the Comic Book Guy, but no one was sure. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-periods-for-emphasis/1011620/4 "2024-12-13T23:22:14Z")
TV Tropes page with examples: [Punctuated! For! Emphasis!](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/PunctuatedForEmphasis) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-periods-for-emphasis/1011620/5 "2024-12-13T23:33:51Z")
Worst. Hyperlink. Ever! Try this one: > **[Punctuated! For! Emphasis! - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PunctuatedForEmphasis)** > > Describe! Punctuated! For! Emphasis! HERE!!! LINES. DELIVERED. WITH. EXTREME! EMPHASIS! ON⦠EVERY! WORD! ESPECIALLY. THE. ENDING!!!! THIS. IS. DIALOGUE. TRANSFORMED. INTO. SPECTA- um, sorry about that issue. This is dialogue … ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-periods-for-emphasis/1011620/6 "2024-12-13T23:42:58Z")
Top. Men.   ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-periods-for-emphasis/1011620/7 "2024-12-13T23:44:21Z")
On the TV Trooes page, the written examples mostly don’t have dates, but HPatGoF was published in 2000. > And in _[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire)_ when Hermione starts a PETA-style organization for house-elves and Ron is trying to talk Hermione out of it > > “They. Like. It. They like being enslaved!” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-periods-for-emphasis/1011620/8 "2024-12-14T00:18:45Z")
Never. Use. Periods. For. Emphasis. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-periods-for-emphasis/1011620/9 "2024-12-14T00:19:05Z")
I know Harlan Ellison used it in the late ‘60s through the ‘70s and maybe longer… But. Never. To. Excess. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-periods-for-emphasis/1011620/10 "2024-12-14T00:27:51Z")
Just being a pest: shouldn’t that be HEAR!!! LINES. DELIVERED. ? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-periods-for-emphasis/1011620/11 "2024-12-14T02:20:24Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Just being a pest: shouldn’t that be HEAR!!! LINES. DELIVERED. ? It’s two sentences (well, one sentence and one sentence fragment): > Describe! Punctuated! For! Emphasis! HERE!!! > LINES. DELIVERED. WITH. EXTREME! EMPHASIS! ON! EVERY! WORD! ESPECIALLY. THE. ENDING!!! “Describe [trope] here” is a standard TV Tropes page opener. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-periods-for-emphasis/1011620/12 "2024-12-14T02:51:10Z")
Shouldn’t this thread have been titled Using. Periods. For emphasis. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-periods-for-emphasis/1011620/13 "2024-12-14T02:53:56Z")
For. Emphasis. (I mean, sheesh … ) ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-periods-for-emphasis/1011620/14 "2024-12-14T03:15:14Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I know Harlan Ellison used it in the late ‘60s through the ‘70s and maybe longer… But. Never. To. Excess. A. Boy. And. His. Dog. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-periods-for-emphasis/1011620/15 "2024-12-14T12:07:32Z")
Methinks. The OP. Will. Regret. What. He. Hath. Wrought. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-periods-for-emphasis/1011620/16 "2024-12-14T12:13:07Z")
Iprefernottouseanyperiodsatall Orevenspacesforthatmatter mmm ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-periods-for-emphasis/1011620/17 "2024-12-14T13:05:45Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Shouldn’t this thread have been titled > > Using. Periods. For emphasis On my first read of the title I thought it was asking about menstrual periods and relationship drama. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-periods-for-emphasis/1011620/18 "2024-12-14T14:30:26Z")
That. Is. Cold. 😉. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-periods-for-emphasis/1011620/19 "2024-12-14T14:59:46Z")
Did a quick check on that list under Literature and the oldest might be James Agee’s _A Death in the Family_ from 1957. But he used m-dashes. One problem with TV Tropes is the fan base is quite nerdy and youngish so such lists skew towards more recent F&SF stuff. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-periods-for-emphasis/1011620/20 "2024-12-14T15:03:01Z")
I remember using this in high school papers in the 80s. It wasn’t new then. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-periods-for-emphasis/1011620.md?page=2)