You know those people who use typical “old-guy texting”... Every sentence ends with a red exclamation mark (or sometimes a question mark), a winking emoji... and sometimes they end with a katakana “NE”... Why do they talk normally when you meet them in person, but suddenly start speaking so strangely on LINE or email? Is it because they’re trying to use a cute way of speaking with younger girls, and it ends up like that? Or do they actually intend to talk that way in everyday life and simply adapted it to writing? I originally studied this kind of thing at university, so I’m very interested in why their messages end up that way. However, I feel it would be rude to ask how they came to develop this “old-guy texting” style, so I haven’t been able to ask.

I’m Fuu, a column writer. It’s a generational thing—a remnant of the days of flip phones and i-mode emails. It was popular back then, when papas were about as young as the person asking this question. I still find myself using emojis and katakana out of habit. Trends come back around, so I’m sure that Instagram and today’s popular slang will seem just as strange to young people 20 or 30 years from now.

Maezawa from the CEO’s office here, too. When mobile phones first started becoming popular, men used to write messages just as they were. But before long, people started saying things like, “That sounds angry—messages like this aren’t okay.” There seemed to be all sorts of rules about how to use emoticons, too. Back then, we were strongly taught that messages consisting of text alone were unacceptable (business writing was a separate matter), and that we had to put emotion into our words—in other words, use emoticons. So even now, I think I’m still following what I was taught at the time. After being told over and over that not using emoticons made your message sound angry and was therefore a bad thing, I never imagined the world would change into what it is today. This was probably before you were born, questioner. They’re simply not caught up with the times, so please teach them gently. It’s probably difficult to adjust when things suddenly become the exact opposite.

I’m Seattle—I’ve even written a few columns. If he has a decent amount of money, he probably isn’t all that stupid. (￣▽￣;) He knows that using old-guy texting lingo is embarrassing, but probably thinks, “I’m cool for using it on purpose—and I’m young too! People say I look younger than my age. Just kidding!” ^^; So you have two choices: gently point it out, or screenshot it, say “Ewwww,” and laugh about it with your papa-katsu friends❗️❗️

I’m Aya, a female member. My previous papa was like that too, and I remember thinking, “What am I supposed to do?(^^;)” But I figured he probably saw lively emotional expression through emojis and such as a sign of youth‼️, so I just watched over him warmly(^^;) If it’s bothering you, why not take the plunge and ask him directly!?^_−☆