Brilio.net - In the digital era like now, communication in the workplace is often done via short messages or chat. Although practical, this way of communicating can sometimes cause misunderstandings.
This is what a woman experienced when sending a message to her boss. In a video uploaded to the TikTok account @widaffdh, he tells of his experience when he received a warning from his boss for using two question marks in his message.
" The importance of understanding punctuation ," he wrote in the caption uploaded to the TikTok account @widaffdh, Wednesday (17/7).
photo: TikTok/@widaffdh
In her upload, the woman known as Wida attached the contents of her chat with her boss. It is suspected that the woman wanted to ask about work.
However, in his question he wrote a question mark twice. Wida, who perhaps didn't understand the meaning of punctuation, felt there was nothing strange about the message.
" Is this the roof design also made, sir or what? " asked Wida.
Instead of responding to Wida's question , his boss gave an unexpected reaction. He actually commented on the contents of Wida's chat which used question marks twice.
Ordinary people might think that using two question marks is just a way to emphasize curiosity. However, the boss had a different view. He explained that the use of double question marks can change the meaning and tone of the message.
photo: TikTok/@widaffdh
Sure enough, when Wida found out about the meaning of the number of question marks in the message, it turned out they had different meanings. For information, the use of a question mark is generally understood as a normal question to obtain information. However, when someone uses two question marks, this can be interpreted as an expression of doubt or skepticism.
photo: TikTok/@widaffdh
This incident can also be a valuable lesson for Wida and perhaps for all of us. In digital communication, especially in professional contexts, we must be more careful in using punctuation, emojis or other elements. What may be intended as a normal question by the sender, may be interpreted differently by the recipient of the message.