51吃瓜

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As much as being passive-aggressive gets a bad rap, we all do it sometimes鈥攅specially on social media or in texts. When someone says something completely ridiculous or disappointing, or that genuinely ticks you off, a pithy “Oh.” can go a long way.

Generally speaking, 辞丑听is a common interjection with wide-ranging meaning, frequently used to express excitement or surprise. This is especially true when written with an exclamation point, e.g., “Oh! I can’t believe it! ”

It’s also used to show that you’ve acknowledged something: “Oh, I didn’t know that.” Oh can also signal a transition, e.g., Oh, I forgot to tell you.

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But if you’re the recipient of an聽Oh.,聽 often written with聽period as if a complete sentence, you might be in trouble. This formulation, which聽spread in the 1990s and 2000s thanks to cell phones and the internet,聽is often used to show that someone feels聽annoyed, disappointed, or let down鈥揳 dismissive acknowledgement聽stripped of any interest or enthusiasm.

A short dialogue, for illustration:

Person A: I bought you flowers!
Person B: Oh.

Rough. The period creates emphasis and pause;聽Person B, it seems, doesn’t like flowers.

Oh. is also commonly used as a component of the common text phrase,聽Oh. My. God.,聽the periods again adding dramatic emphasis, in a Valley Girl sort of way.

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