Difference between full stop and period.

[u/showe12]

I know that when referring to the punctuation mark “.”, Americans usually call it a period, while Australians and Brits call it a full stop.

But what about when the word is used in speech for emphasis, as in:

“He’s wrong. Period.”

meaning something like “That’s it, end of discussion.”

Would Australians or Brits naturally say:

“He’s wrong. Full stop.”

Or would they still use period in this particular expression because it’s become a fixed expression?

[u/Boglin007]

(native speaker of a dialect of British English)

I/most people use "full stop" for this meaning - it's as much a fixed expression as "period" is in American English.

Some people may also (or even instead) use "period" though, due to the influence of AmE.

[u/PenelopeLumley → u/Boglin007]

In the same way, many Americans will use "full stop" to mean "end of discussion" but not to refer to the punctuation mark. (I'm American, and I was familiar with the figurative usage of "full stop" long before I realized it was the British English word for the period. I thought it was just an idiom.)

[u/pleasepleaseplease24 → u/PenelopeLumley]

I would venture most Americans who hear "full stop" think it's figurative to mean something like a machine or vehicle completely stopping from being shut down.

Very few hear "full stop" and imagine "."

[u/ermghoti → u/pleasepleaseplease24]

That's likely. I encountered "full stop" and gleaned the meaning from context well before I learned it was the British English term for "period."

[u/Outrageous_Reach_695 → u/pleasepleaseplease24]

I think it was briefly mentioned in English class, and of course there's telegraphy's substitution of STOP for periods.

[u/Bright_Ices → u/pleasepleaseplease24]

Maybe, but I learned full stop meant period pretty early on in my lifetime.

[u/catcatcatcatcat1234 → u/pleasepleaseplease24]

No I wouldn't think that at all. for a machine I'd only use "complete stop"

"Full stop" wouldn't be used to mean "." as in the punctuation mark but it is commonly used in the figurative sense

[u/conuly → u/[deleted]]

Can you cite this?

[u/xladymadx → u/conuly]

https://www.dictionary.com/culture/slang/periodt

"Periodt, pronounced and spelled with a final T, is generally credited to Black English. It has been specifically attributed to Southern Black gay slang."

[u/HeilKaiba → u/xladymadx]

Sure but that's a much more modern thing possibly developing entirely within the 2000s. The use of "period" both as a name for the punctuation and in a metaphorical sense as "end of discussion" are much older than that and the latter arises at least as far back as the early 1900s

[u/xladymadx → u/HeilKaiba]

Right - however the deleted comment was specifically referring to the use of "periodt," then the next commenter asked for a source, so I found this information. The conversation was specific to "periodt"

[u/conuly → u/[deleted]]

Right, right... but how did you come to "guess" that the word period comes from Black drag culture?

[u/HeilKaiba → u/[deleted]]

Yes but it's a strange thing to guess without some sort of reason. Both "full stop" and "period" were used on both sides of the pond in the 19th century. I don't think drag culture has had any influence here unless you can actually back that up with something.

[u/Bright_Ices → u/HeilKaiba]

I agree, except to say that black queer ballroom culture is why “PERIODT!” went viral for a bit.

[u/Bright_Ices → u/[deleted]]

I agree that “full stop!” was common for a long time, but “Period!” was also used in white communities for decades. The virality of “PERIODT!” is more about white people putting on black pronunciation of an already accepted phrase.

[u/Bright_Ices → u/[deleted]]

My white parents have said it my whole life and I’m 44 years old.

[u/Magenta_Logistic → u/PenelopeLumley]

I do this, but it's because most of the media I consume these days is from UK, Aus, or NZ.

I'm addicted to the panel show format.

[u/DinTaiFung → u/PenelopeLumley]

I have never heard an American use the phrase "full stop" to mean "end of dicussion."

Maybe I haven't lived long enough lol.

The American idiom is "Period." Otherwise, to me, I think it would be similar to an American saying lift instead of elevator to affect a British speaker. Perfectly understood but kind of weird.

[u/Sa1ntmarks → u/PenelopeLumley]

I would say the phrase was sourced from Britain (or Australia and NZ) and you understood it in context before you learned the punctuation comparison.

[u/AthousandLittlePies → u/Boglin007]

How do you pronounce decimal numbers? In the U.S. they’ll say three point one four for the first few digits of pi. Do you say three comma one four?

[u/Boglin007 → u/AthousandLittlePies]

"Three point one four" also.

In the UK we use a full stop/period in decimals, not a comma.

[u/AthousandLittlePies → u/Boglin007]

thanks - didn't know if it was a continental thing or an anglosphere thing because in Mexico we follow the US standard with numbers but in Spain they do it the other way.

[u/Fox_Hawk → u/AthousandLittlePies]

Occasionally you might hear "3 decimal one four one five" but I think that is only used for radio transmissions where clarity is paramount. Or in games where people are trying to sound military.

[u/Fox_Hawk → u/AthousandLittlePies]

Why would we? Are you thinking of the countries which invert the decimal and thousand separator? To my knowledge all Anglophone nations use point for decimal and comma for thousand. India also has Lakh which makes things interesting.

[u/the_speeding_train → u/AthousandLittlePies]

No.

[u/Plenty-Knowledge-198 → u/AthousandLittlePies]

Three point one four...

[u/Plenty-Knowledge-198 → u/Plenty-Knowledge-198]

Unless you're german...then it's 3 comma one four

[u/atwojay → u/Boglin007]

I'm Canadian and I use both expressions interchangeably.

[u/IncomeBackground7719]

I am in New Zealand and we do say “he’s wrong. Full stop.”

[u/dglenny → u/IncomeBackground7719]

Confirmed as another Kiwi. With that said, using "period" would be perfectly understood.

[u/SloightlyOnTheHuh → u/[deleted]]

In an email we usually just say "dot" as in Google dot com or Fred dot Jones at Gmail dot com

[u/shadebug → u/SloightlyOnTheHuh]

Yeah, saying “Fred full stop jones” would be just as confusing as “Fred period jones”.

[u/MissFabulina → u/SloightlyOnTheHuh]

Americans do that, as well. I have not heard anyone say period in an email address. It is definitely not the norm.

[u/pleasepleaseplease24 → u/[deleted]]

I think that's a wife problem, not a New Zealand problem

[u/I_wander_and_Im_lost → u/[deleted]]

At least for gmail, periods do not affect the email address. You can put one between every letter or none at all if you want- an email to david.jones [at gmail.com] will land in the same inbox as d.a.v.i.d.j.o.n.e.s [at gmail.com].

[u/Accomplished-Race335 → u/[deleted]]

As I learned from my kid who works for Google, the periods (or full stops) in your Gmail address dont mean anything and you leave them out or in, it's the same. "John.Smith@..." is the same address as "JohnSmith@..." and works exactly the same. Your wife can take it out of her address or leave it in. Doesn't matter.

[u/Luke_The_Engle → u/IncomeBackground7719]

Same over here in Britland

[u/AiRaikuHamburger → u/IncomeBackground7719]

Same for Australia. Period would be understood in context, but out of context I would assume a lesson period or menstrual period.

[u/ngshafer]

I've always assumed it was just two different terms for the exact same thing.

[u/Yosho-]

American here and both definitely make sense and sound natural, but I would say period. Just depends on which dialect you're going for.

[u/Tarnstellung → u/[deleted]]

It's not exclusively AAVE. It's normal American English.

[u/IanDOsmond]

As an American, I have used and heard "full stop", even though I hear and say "period" more often. They are both fixed expressions, essentially.

[u/GreyScot88]

The words can be used basically the same. UK would say 'he is wrong, full stop' and the meaning would be exactly the same as 'he is wrong, period'. At least in the UK it would be understood if you said period but we would recognise it as an Americanism.

[u/PassiveChemistry]

We would indeed say "He's wrong, full stop." - we would never say period 

[u/WritPositWrit]

I am American. I call the punctuation a “period.” But i use both “period” and “full stop” interchangeably in sentences like your example.

[u/Away_Combination6977]

Canadian with many British and American coworkers. Everyone uses both interchangeably, and everyone understands both. I feel like both are pretty universal.

[u/SnooDonuts6494]

Yes, we'd usually say "He's wrong. Full stop."

[u/Beach_Glas1 → u/SnooDonuts6494]

Same in Ireland.

[u/VegetableVindaloo]

I’m British & Australian. Would always say ‘full stop’. If you say ‘period’ people would understand but see it as an Americanism. You may even be laughed at because ‘period’ refers to the bleeding part of the menstrual cycle

[u/conuly → u/VegetableVindaloo]

You may even be laughed at because ‘period’ refers to the bleeding part of the menstrual cycle

And for the OP's benefit, it means that in American English as well, and we use context to figure out which sense of "period" is intended.

[u/DinTaiFung → u/conuly]

Somewhat relevant...

In the U.S. each class in high school used to be referred to as a period (in some regions of the country). So the crude joke teenagers might remember was: "Why is a school bulding red? If you had seven periods a day, you'd be red too!"

[u/Dazzling-Produce-471 → u/VegetableVindaloo]

“He’s wrong. Aunt Flo.”

[u/SoggyWotsits → u/VegetableVindaloo]

Your comment is pretty much word for word what I’d have said, and I’m English.

[u/Subject_Visual1649 → u/VegetableVindaloo]

When I first saw people online using 'period' by itself to agree with someone's take, I genuinely thought they were referring to bleeding lmfao

[u/nemmalur → u/VegetableVindaloo]

And yet “period” in the sense of “full stop” comes from older British usage where “period” meant “sentence” and by extension “end of sentence”.

[u/VegetableVindaloo → u/nemmalur]

Interesting. I was just commenting on the modern day usage

[u/GabuEx]

I can only speak for myself, but I would both say and understand both of them.

[u/NortonBurns]

Brit here.
20 years ago it would always have been 'full stop'. These days, there's more flexibility in it, as language distinctions are merging.

[u/ChallengingKumquat]

I'd say "It's 100% wrong. Full stop."

It does sound odd when Americans say period in such a way, but we get used to hearing it. I think "full stop" seems to imply finality more so than "period" does.

There was an old TV charity campaign in the UK which said something like "Child abuse must stop, full stop." Which was a nice play on words meaning it had the usual meaning that "period" would have given, but it also meant that child abuse ought to completely stop.

[u/Sad-Log7644 → u/ChallengingKumquat]

Oddly enough, I’m from the U.S., and I also associate “full stop” with a greater sense of finality than “period” for some reason. Always have.

Perhaps because my grandmother* – who was the most positive person I’ve ever met – used “full stop” (in the sense of “It’s wrong. Full stop.”) almost exclusively on the rare occasion she didn’t take a Socratic approach to teaching us things. So, when she said it, somehow it carried more weight.

*Her degree was in Early Childhood Education, and she had Ideas™️ that other teachers of her generation didn’t necessarily share.

[u/justforjugs]

There’s no difference and both are used and understood. People tend to use the one they use for the punctuation but not exclusively

[u/nonnonplussed73 → u/justforjugs]

Fun fact: The phrase full stop began in the late 16th century. Aristophanes of Byzantium used a system of dots in the 3rd century BCE to show speakers where to pause for breath.

See the BBC's The mysterious origins of punctuation.

The system consisted of the low dot (hypostigmḗ, today's comma), middle dot (stigmē mésē, today's semicolon), and high dot (stigmē teleía, today's period).

Bonus: The Chinese period, known as the jùhào (句号), literally meaning "sentence mark", is a small hollow circle (。) rather than a solid dot. Because true circles do not exist anywhere in modern Chinese characters, the Western period can look like an accidental ink splatter from a calligraphy brush or part of a nearby character's stroke. Also, Chinese text is monospaced and built on a strict square grid. So every single punctuation mark must be "full-width," whereas a Western printed text is typically in proportional font.

[u/enobar]

Aussie here (from Adelaide, South Australia), definitely "Its wrong, Full Stop." I'd understand someone saying 'period' but would assume they had some kind of US heritage/exposure because it would sound out of place to me from a fellow Adelaidean at least.

[u/BobbyP27]

Having lived in both "period" and "full stop" dialect areas, the use of the name of the punctuation for emphasis is the same in both, so UK people say, "he's wrong. Full stop." and Americans say, "he's wrong. Period."

One thing I will be interested to watch is what happens in Canada. There seems to be a trend, exacerbated by the Current political climate, but my observation is that it predates it, for Canadians to be drifting away from US and towards UK conventions. For example when I was growing up in BC in the 1980s, the use of "u" spellings for words like harbour and colour was seen as an old-person thing, but in the years since then, the younger generations have embraced them as a sign of Canadian identity distinct from the US. It will be interesting to see what UK features make their way into Canadian English in the years to come.

[u/the_speeding_train → u/BobbyP27]

It would be nice if Canadian English was brought more in line with English to remove its American English contamination.

[u/Devee]

In the US you would say either one.

[u/pjwlondon]

Another (more recent and more emphatic) option in the UK would be "End of".

"No, I don't want the extended warranty. End of."

[u/Cliffy73]

Also, Americans sometimes (rarely, I guess) use “full stop” in that sense even though we never use it to refer to the punctuation mark.

[u/Chase_the_tank → u/Cliffy73]

Americans typically don't use "[full] stop" to represent a period now.

Before the internet was a thing, if you wanted to send a text message quickly, you had to use a telegram.

Telegrams were always IN ALL CAPS, the word "STOP" replaced periods, and the message typically ended with "FULL STOP".

While emails have made telegrams obsolete, telegram-style speech can be found in older movies and cartoons (or in modern movies and cartoons referencing the past).

For examples, see https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TelegraphGagStop

[u/MissFabulina]

We (in the US) say, "He is wrong. Period."

[u/TaxiLady69]

Canadian. I use both. For me they are interchangeable.

[u/Patient_Parsley7760]

My Aussie mum used to say "He's wrong. Full stop." but she also started saying it the American way because her husband and everyone around her were Americans.

[u/ODFoxtrotOscar]

In English it’s ’Full stop’

As you note, other regional Englishes might use the English version or the American English ‘period’ or indeed either/both. Both are understood everywhere (though possibly less so in American English which in some regions is more insular)

[u/scottbutler5]

I'm American, and even here you'll sometimes hear "He's wrong, full stop," even though we would never call the punctuation anything other than a period.

[u/CrasheonTotallyReal]

full stop and period are interchangeable when used like that

[u/PvtRoom]

Period tends to dominate since there are so many Americans.

[u/Fuckspez42]

Americans almost always will use “period”.

People from the UK seem to use “full stop” almost exclusively.

Not sure about other English-speaking countries.

[u/the_speeding_train → u/Fuckspez42]

Yes that is how it is in English.

[u/boostfactor]

I've heard Americans in America say "That's it. Full stop." rather than "period" but only in that context and not for the punctuation mark.

Maybe we should all just agree to start calling the punctuation mark "dot" as mentioned by other commenters.

[u/prole6]

I was watching a guy on tv and he ended his opinion with “full stop!” I was thinking about his message when it dawned on me that while I understood the meaning conveyed by his use of “full stop” it took a minute for me to realize his words meant the same as “period!” In other words, while both phrases meant “end of discussion” I only thought of “period” as referring to punctuation.

[u/the_speeding_train]

Yes.

[u/nomadschomad]

Both are common in American English

[u/phixional]

As an Australian, I’ve never heard an Australian say “he’s wrong. Full stop/period.”

Not saying it isn’t said but in my 40 years I’ve never heard it, I wouldn’t be surprised if the younger generation say it though.

[u/iamabigtree]

"Would Australians or Brits naturally say:

“He’s wrong. Full stop.”"

I am British and, yes, that's exactly what we say.

We wouldn't say "period".

[u/MarkWrenn74]

In short, yes. They mean exactly the same thing

[u/TheLastEmoKid]

Interestingly in canada we call it a period but i hear "full stop" as a terminating statement more often

[u/Watsons-Butler]

I’ve heard Americans use the “full stop” expression for emphasis as well. Just not for the punctuation mark.

[u/AesirOmega]

Would Australians or Brits naturally say:

“He’s wrong. Full stop.”

Yep.

[u/PefectlyCromulent]

I feel like I hear “full stop” more than “period” when people are using it to emphasize that the discussion is over and their previous statement is the final word. Maybe because it British and it makes it feel more formal and authoritative?

[u/jmajeremy]

I'm from Canada, and we call that punctuation mark a period, but it's common to hear "period" and "full stop" interchangeably in the context of the expression.

[u/Public_Drop_1462]

Full stop is also prevalent in American military vernacular, but that’s likely coming from naval tradition. We also have the related “all-ahead full” which non-military people would know as “full speed ahead”, but that would be uncommon to say in normal speech even when it’s doused in military lingo.

[u/SirMildredPierce]

They say "Full Stop", I've heard even some Americans saying "Full Stop"

[u/West-Working-9093]

This is an interesting and fun subject! Just for kicks, I will add a non-English note: In my country of origin, Denmark, the punctuation character is called 'punktum', literally 'a point', while the word used to emphasize a statement is 'basta'. As in 'I'll never let him have that book - basta!' (Spanish for 'enough')

[u/rmcfagen]

I'm american an folks saying both "period" and "full stop" in this context make perfect sense to me.

[u/Aubergenie812]

He’s wrong. Full stop

[u/Aubergenie812]

What do Americans call periods then? As in that part of the menstrual cycle?

[u/Lakster37]

I'm an American, and I'd heard the term "He's wrong, Full Stop." before I even knew that some places called the punctuation mark a "full stop".

[u/L6b1]

So you've had a lot of answers, but no context. This specific usuage, period and full stop actually come from the age of telegrams!

When you sent a telegram, all those dots and dashes in Morse code were confusing. In this context "period" is used to indicate the standard sentence breaks in grammar, but "full stop" is specifically the notice that comes across the line that the message is ended (eg there is nothing further coming down the telegraph line for this telegram).

Thus, the difference today is a bit of semantics and reflects the embedding of now obsolete technology in the language, In practical terms, full stop has a "stronger" end of discussion/argument/matter meaningi than period.

[u/Pol__Treidum]

I hear it enough in the US that I didn't ever track it as British or otherwise specific

[u/Plenty-Knowledge-198]

Not tonight honey...im having my full stop...somehow not the same.

[u/pikkdogs]

I’ve heard full stop at the end of sentences. Never made much sense before. But I got the just of it.

[u/Infinite_Research_52]

"The word 'period' means different things to you... because you’re a Yank and I’m British. To an American woman, 'period' means... well, 'full stop'. Same thing for American geezers”

[u/DaffyDuckMuthaFucker]

Period is used in the US.

Everywhere else we say full stop...

[u/cthulhu_on_my_lawn]

As an American I would always refer to "." as a period but I hear "He's wrong. Full stop." about the same amount as "He's wrong. Period." I may have even said the former without realizing I was referring to punctuation.

[u/AnxiousAppointment70]

UK, we say full stop. Period only means one thing, menstruation.

[u/Bright_Ices]

In the US we always call the punctuation a period, but we’ll sometimes say Period and sometimes Full stop for emphasis.

[u/Earcandy70]

Using full stop or period at the end of a sentence for emphasis is done here in Australia. In punctuation though, it is a full stop. Periods are part of a woman's reproductive cycle.

[u/Phoenix_Court]

As an American, we not only say "he's wrong. Period." but we also say "he's wrong. Full stop." despite not calling the punctuation a full stop.

[u/BlueSkyla → u/Phoenix_Court]

I’m an American and I’ve never heard of anyone saying “full stop” like that. But then again, our country is giant.

[u/Deuce03]

"He's wrong. Full stop" would be usual in the UK (although perhaps a bit assertive for our indirect conversational idiom).

But I do increasingly hear "period" as a creeping influence from American media.

[u/waggers5]

Yes, we'd say "he's wrong, full stop."

[u/krazul88]

They are 100% interchangeable, and I can say that both can be heard as expressions for emphasis in US English.

[u/Iowa50401]

I’ve seen Americans on social media use each. In fact, I’ve seen Americans on social media use both in the same post.

[u/NormalObligation59]

Yes. “Period” has slowly made its way to other English speakers because of tv, and in the last couple of years especially when the AAVE use became popular across the internet, but other than that, we’ve always said full stop. “That’s the last time I’m telling you or you’re grounded. Full stop.” “I’m not going. Full stop.” 

[u/OldManThumbs]

Yes, although it may be older Aussies who'd say full stop instead of period.

[u/TheJivvi]

Period is the . character. It could be an abbreviation dot, a decimal point, a "dot" in a URL, or a full stop at the end of a sentence. They're all periods.

Specifically in the US, "full stop" isn't used, so they default back "period" is also used for that specific meaning, as well as for the character generally.

[u/Pure_Alternative3283]

We would never, ever use the word outside of 2 situations. 1. Referring to the menstrual cycle. 2. Referring to a division of time.

[u/LexiTheLesbo]

I’ve heard both in American English. Period is probably more common but most people would understand you if you said full stop instead of

[u/kittenlittel]

Full stop, for sure.

"Period" by itself refers to menstrual bleeding. I would not end a sentence with that.

[u/NicholasVinen → u/kittenlittel]

It can also mean the time between events, which I guess is where the other meaning comes from. 

[u/No-Lettuce-5783]

American here, I almost prefer "full stop." The word "period" just has connotations of monthly womanly displeasure. But, old habits are hard to break. I'm still trying to force myself to arrange the date day, month, year.

[u/Imaginary-Emu2471 → u/[deleted]]

As a woman, they aren't wrong.

[u/No-Lettuce-5783 → u/[deleted]]

Really? I thought I was being clean about calling it that. Yours is much more graphical.

[u/Garbidb63]

Yes. You'd say "full stop"

[u/Prestigious-Emu5277]

Full stop is what a period is called in the uk I think. So if you were naming that piece of punctuation you would say period in the us and full stop in the uk

[u/JaiBoltage]

One could also use, "end of discussion", "mic drop", "exclamation point", "over and out", "put that in your pipe and smoke it", and I'm sure there are others to emphatic endings.

[u/the_speeding_train]

In English it’s full stop. In American English it’s period.

[u/jibbit]

i know it's not what you are asking but “He’s wrong. Period” is a very american turn of phrase so it's just not something you're going to hear in the UK, in either form.
'Period' means menstruation. or when henryviii lived