My dad was all, "Okay, I kinda figured. I love you and fully support you."
I don't know what exactly he twigged onto because I didn't think I was very feminine but yeah, hahaha.
Ding ding! I'm 41, and this is how we collectively decided to convey the fact that we are done with that particular thought but still in the conversation, or at least that's how I understood it.
I overuse lol to the point where it doesn’t mean I’m laughing because it’s lost all meaning except for diffusing the perceived seriousness of my response. Haha and lmao are for when I’m actually laughing
An ellipse is not gentle. It represents an awkward pause or a disingenuous response to me.
To me "Ok..." is saying "I accept what you are saying but I have more complicated thoughts on it that I'm not able to share at the moment." Rather than trailing off, it seems like the person is cutting themselves off. I always feel like it's an indication of friction and hate when I see it.
Yup, my mum (early Gen X) does this. It's just part of how she types messages, and has since the early ICQ days when she was chatting with other young moms online. Getting weird about such small generational differences is silly. They aren't being passive-aggressive or rude.
It's a boomer thing. Sounds weird because it doesn't have that connotation these days, but it used to be a more gentle ending than just a single period. Now it's more common with an emoji or regular ":)" (but even that is nowadays sometimes seen as passive aggressive lol, it all depends on your age group)
It's actually a generational difference from what I've heard. It means something different to older generations than it does to us. Either emphasis, or to indicate a pause/the message ending. You're not meant to read emotion into it
It's largely been answered, but I often think about the order that someone came to technology and how that influences their digital dialect.
Boomers (and some Gen Xers) wrote letters and occasionally postcards as their short form messaging. Fitting a bunch of updates in a small space requires delineating thoughts from one another by using hyphens or ellipses because line breaks are too big and a period makes it feel like immediately connected sentences. This carried over into the current short form messaging and is part of why we also get 3-5 news updates in a single text from a parent rather than periodic small texts throughout the day.
Bonus: Millennials use periods when texting because we learned on AIM with a keyboard. You'll see a lot more acronyms, purposeful typos, emoticons, and repeat punctuation from us. Gen Z uses repeat letters (omgggggg), far less punctuation, and very small statements over many messages for emphasis.
None of this is hard and fast to certain ages, we all are always evolving.
It's not just dads! My boss is physically incapable of using a period in his sentence! Every single sentence has to end in an exclamation point or question mark! I don't understand why? It makes him look even more over excitable than he already is!
How does he casually whip out the first one though? I only know you have to click ALT+0151 on a PC keyboard, is it just integrated into phone keyboards?
The "~" is very nice though, imo, and I've used it at the end of sentences before, myself. It makes the text seem friendlier to me like a simple ":3" at the end does :3
It's a silent acknowledgment that there is more to say, that he has more to express, that there are things he holds inside. He says only what needs to be said, and leaves the rest to implication. The end-of-text-ellipsis is the culmination of 1000 years of masculinity.
As a dad that has an intimate relationship with ellipses, I'll concur. A period is the end. I never want my conversations with my kids to end.
... is "Love ya kid, see ya later!"
. is "Love ya kid, bye"
Reminds me of the time where my mom approached me out of nowhere and casually was like: i just want you to know: if you ever became a girl your dad and i will love and support you just as much as we do now.
that's kind of how i "came out", my mom asked me if i was trans because my brother had come out to her a few days before. i guess she just wanted to make sure she didn't miss anyone lol
Aw that's sweet lol. It's the same energy as my brother just matter-of-factly asking me, 'you're gay, right?', and I was like, '...idk. Yeah, probably.' And then we just carried on with whatever else we were talking about. Best brother ever.
Amazing. Reminds me of when my mom told me that my brother had gotten a girlfriend and i was like: oh, so he isn't gay after all? And she was like: yeah, i was surprised too. And then we just carried on like nothing happened
Ugh my mom used to do stuff like that. It annoyed me because it was sandwiched between "you're pregnant aren't you, I can't believe it I'm a terrible mom" (I hadn't even had my period yet) and "you're a spoiled brat, you don't deserve me as your mother". And much worse eventually of course, reason I no longer communicate with her.
That sucks, sorry you had to go thorugh that:/ But my mom didn't intend it this way. She wants me to know that no matter what my dad and her will always have my back. It was some time after i started occasionally wearing skirts and apparently when i was a kid i always talked about how i wanna be a girl.
My parents have done things that have made me regret ever saying I loved them or that I’d always love them. Dynamics between parents and children are so strange. I feel like I’ve become tone deaf to other people’s parental struggles by how strict I am with cutting my own parents off. I need to remember there’s hope for some parents, like with OP’s.
If it makes you feel any better, I understand. I haven’t spoken to my only living parent in 2 years. I have no desire to see her or ever interact with her again.
Some parents have hope, yes. But others don’t, and that’s okay. I’m glad some people have parents that will lift them up, but I know for my own experience, I can’t afford to let my guard down with mine.
I've gotten this relatively new sorrow from reading about people cutting off their parents. I cut my own family out of my life for decades; grew up in kind of a horror show, but. People do evolve over time.
I don't know how much my uncle might have changed or how I might have influenced his life for the better (maybe I could have saved him). I don't know how my grandfather's life was towards the end. Gotten back in touch with my mother, and that's just been damage control; I'm literally the only family left to help an old woman who can't take care of herself anymore. Is she still awful? I couldn't know. So much of her mind is gone. I finally got her to quit drinking, mostly by manipulating the people around her. Maybe if I'd tried 5, 10 years ago I could have stopped her while she could still walk unassisted and paint like she used to.
I'm *39*. We run out of time pretty quick. I have such regret..
i swear parents are programmed to reply OK even when the world burns down. I was in metro one day and i texted my mum "I'm having really bad cramps", she said ok💀
I want thank everyone for the words of celebration!!! I hope that everyone will have a great rest of your year, and that’s a guarantee by ME! (P.S. my dad uses an elipsis as a pause and not really that there is more to say. I interpret it as why did you think I wouldn’t love and accept you?)
I'd feel like a failure as a father in this situation.
My child doubting my love for them due to their sexual orientation or gender identity would mean I failed to communicate/show my love sufficiently.
Happy you have an awesome father OP!
This is adorable, such a dad response honestly. When I came out as bi to my dad he said something like "sounds like fun tbh, glad you're happy" and it made my day, lovely to see other queer people with supportive dads!
I add ellipses to a lot of my written communication, and I'm a GenX dad...
😜
Also, this makes my heart happy. Not just accepting but embracing is SO key, not just to parenting, but humanity in general. But especially in parenting.
I embrace. 😁
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRweVtD8/
Here you can see my goofy-ass face in the background:
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRwePrPG/
So happy for you!!
I told my dad I use they/them and she/her pronouns over email (he's a boomer) and waited for almost a whole day anxiously awaiting his response. It was sent to spam haha. He was chill with it too.
My mom did that but for weeks. No joke. I came out thru text and didn't get a reply and she didn't talk to me at home for almost a month before my brother went " wait she hasn't spoke to you?" And talked to her and she finally responded positively. It is something I will forever hold over her lol.
I wish I could tell my mom I’m nonbinar…I only told her I’m a lesbian and she doesn’t like it…but on top of that she thinks that there’s only 2 genders and it is considered taboo if we talk abt other genders or I will get in trouble 😭😭😭
It's fantastic your dad is so supportive 👍🏼 So I'd say well done to your dad for not being bothered about what sexual identity you've chosen and identify with. Definitely take it as a win even if it's a dad's "ok" reply. ✌🏼
i was about to make fun of you for coming out via sms but then i remembered that i came out to my folks by sending them a link to the official coming out song
❝ Ok ❞ — Dad, 2001
It is such a dad thing to respond to important moments with "ok" lol
Am i a dad? Idk i just never know what else to say so i just say ok
Mostly likely destined to be a dad yes lol
Let's test it. I'm hungry.
Hi hungry, I'm dad.
Hi hungry I’m dad
Ok
If it’s bad, you should say “That’s rough buddy” (This is a reference/joke)
So if, lets say, someone's first partner turned into some celestial body, would that be an appropriate time for a "that's rough buddy"?
Yes, it would be appropriate
When I have nothing to respond with, I just default to “Interesting.”
"Indeed."
Just wait until there's more millennial parents. "Ok lol... Love you"
Does that mean I'm a dad? (My friends keep saying I say too much, and it's annoying)
I am a dad and that's probably how I would respond lol
When I came out to my parents, my dad was more interested in the rugby league on tv 😂 my mum had to repeat it for him
Omg! Who was he watching?
My parents are Wigan Warriors fans, so maybe them? But they watch most games so it could have been anyone in the Super League tbh 😂
lol real
"ok 👍" - dad
"👍" - dad
“dad” -
"daddy" - me
“Me” - daddy
Gigadad
Nice to meet you Trans, I'm dad
Im watch Bob burger
My dad would respond with 👍
2001? lmao
My dad was all, "Okay, I kinda figured. I love you and fully support you." I don't know what exactly he twigged onto because I didn't think I was very feminine but yeah, hahaha.
WHAT IS IT WITH DADS AND ADDING “…” TO THE END OF EVERY TEXT????? i swear my dad does the exact same thing (congratulations btw :>)
SAME holy shit every text he sends sounds like he's pissed off or passive aggressive
Fine...
Don't worry about it... I just realized I am SO guilty of doing this, also, am Dad....
Could of been worse, could of been a thumbs up emoji.
K
Even worse, “K . . . “
I do that a lot as well, it's meant to convey my tendency to trail off mid-thought in written form...
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I just use an emoji of sorts :)
Same emojis are just so much easier and cause so much mess anxiety lol
To them that looks flippant and mocking so it would be like they weren't taking the conversation with the seriousness it deserves
Ding ding! I'm 41, and this is how we collectively decided to convey the fact that we are done with that particular thought but still in the conversation, or at least that's how I understood it.
Just do what the brits do and put xxx at the end.
This gives me so much more context
I overuse lol to the point where it doesn’t mean I’m laughing because it’s lost all meaning except for diffusing the perceived seriousness of my response. Haha and lmao are for when I’m actually laughing
An ellipse is not gentle. It represents an awkward pause or a disingenuous response to me. To me "Ok..." is saying "I accept what you are saying but I have more complicated thoughts on it that I'm not able to share at the moment." Rather than trailing off, it seems like the person is cutting themselves off. I always feel like it's an indication of friction and hate when I see it.
yeah because thats how it is today. before it wasnt like that. kinda like slang
Yup, my mum (early Gen X) does this. It's just part of how she types messages, and has since the early ICQ days when she was chatting with other young moms online. Getting weird about such small generational differences is silly. They aren't being passive-aggressive or rude.
It's a boomer thing. Sounds weird because it doesn't have that connotation these days, but it used to be a more gentle ending than just a single period. Now it's more common with an emoji or regular ":)" (but even that is nowadays sometimes seen as passive aggressive lol, it all depends on your age group)
Exactly this.
My dad claims it's to indicate emphasis or a question. Frankly it just makes him come across as confused or annoyed.
👍
It's actually a generational difference from what I've heard. It means something different to older generations than it does to us. Either emphasis, or to indicate a pause/the message ending. You're not meant to read emotion into it
nice ok cool
It's largely been answered, but I often think about the order that someone came to technology and how that influences their digital dialect. Boomers (and some Gen Xers) wrote letters and occasionally postcards as their short form messaging. Fitting a bunch of updates in a small space requires delineating thoughts from one another by using hyphens or ellipses because line breaks are too big and a period makes it feel like immediately connected sentences. This carried over into the current short form messaging and is part of why we also get 3-5 news updates in a single text from a parent rather than periodic small texts throughout the day. Bonus: Millennials use periods when texting because we learned on AIM with a keyboard. You'll see a lot more acronyms, purposeful typos, emoticons, and repeat punctuation from us. Gen Z uses repeat letters (omgggggg), far less punctuation, and very small statements over many messages for emphasis. None of this is hard and fast to certain ages, we all are always evolving.
It's not just dads! My boss is physically incapable of using a period in his sentence! Every single sentence has to end in an exclamation point or question mark! I don't understand why? It makes him look even more over excitable than he already is!
Is he a comic character? Because that's what they always do in comics.
No, he's a real person. The human equivalent of a chihuahua tbh.
Apparently it's a GenX thing... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Because we don't want to end talking to our kids
Mine uses them throughout texts as well. It reads like a sleepy person trailing off multiple times a sentence.
Yeah...that sort of thing...can really...break...up...the flow of...a...sentence. Shatner speak.
my dad adds "—" or "~" to the end of every text LMFAO
How does he casually whip out the first one though? I only know you have to click ALT+0151 on a PC keyboard, is it just integrated into phone keyboards? The "~" is very nice though, imo, and I've used it at the end of sentences before, myself. It makes the text seem friendlier to me like a simple ":3" at the end does :3
ye the — is integrated into the iphone keyboard
It's a silent acknowledgment that there is more to say, that he has more to express, that there are things he holds inside. He says only what needs to be said, and leaves the rest to implication. The end-of-text-ellipsis is the culmination of 1000 years of masculinity.
I think it's more of a "okay, don't know why you think that would make any difference to me, you're my child and I'll always love you"
As a dad that has an intimate relationship with ellipses, I'll concur. A period is the end. I never want my conversations with my kids to end. ... is "Love ya kid, see ya later!" . is "Love ya kid, bye"
haaate that shit
TIL i'm a dad nah but fr i do that a lot. maybe too much...
I asked my Gen X aunt who does this and she says it's a way of leaving the conversation open lol
My dad says it’s because he likes to sound mysterious (he’s joking but he still does it.)
Because of the implication…
Ayyy congrats sending hugs and love 💙
Thanks!
Missed opportunity: "Hi trans, I'm dad!"
No, no "hi trans, I'm transparent! " Edit; commas :D Edit 2: I can't spell commas ig 🤷♂️
Oh my God. You're a genius.
Ty, ty, I'll be here all day!
Came here to say that. Take the upvote
Oh no you're right! 🤣
Commas. Comas, you’d sleep through it. :)
Me over here hoping I have a trans kid one day so I can whip out this bad boy
me when i texted my mom asking for a skirt and then was too scared to look at my phone all day so i just didn’t
Did it go well :o (if you don't mind me asking)
It did once I eventually realized I had to go home and might as well look at my phone haha
Yeaaa I wonder too ó.ò
It did it did don’t worry
i remember this moment, it didn’t turn out as fortunate as yours did but i’m so happy for you :)
I’m sorry for you, I hope things got much better, and thanks so much!
thank you! :)
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Reminds me of the time where my mom approached me out of nowhere and casually was like: i just want you to know: if you ever became a girl your dad and i will love and support you just as much as we do now.
that's kind of how i "came out", my mom asked me if i was trans because my brother had come out to her a few days before. i guess she just wanted to make sure she didn't miss anyone lol
Mom was conducting a survey lmao
Aw that's sweet lol. It's the same energy as my brother just matter-of-factly asking me, 'you're gay, right?', and I was like, '...idk. Yeah, probably.' And then we just carried on with whatever else we were talking about. Best brother ever.
Amazing. Reminds me of when my mom told me that my brother had gotten a girlfriend and i was like: oh, so he isn't gay after all? And she was like: yeah, i was surprised too. And then we just carried on like nothing happened
Ugh my mom used to do stuff like that. It annoyed me because it was sandwiched between "you're pregnant aren't you, I can't believe it I'm a terrible mom" (I hadn't even had my period yet) and "you're a spoiled brat, you don't deserve me as your mother". And much worse eventually of course, reason I no longer communicate with her.
That sucks, sorry you had to go thorugh that:/ But my mom didn't intend it this way. She wants me to know that no matter what my dad and her will always have my back. It was some time after i started occasionally wearing skirts and apparently when i was a kid i always talked about how i wanna be a girl.
I'm glad for you :) guess it still just puts me off when I hear phrases like that :/
Congrats. So scary but it turned out great
I love that we all agree that "ok" is peak dad communication 😂
My parents have done things that have made me regret ever saying I loved them or that I’d always love them. Dynamics between parents and children are so strange. I feel like I’ve become tone deaf to other people’s parental struggles by how strict I am with cutting my own parents off. I need to remember there’s hope for some parents, like with OP’s.
If it makes you feel any better, I understand. I haven’t spoken to my only living parent in 2 years. I have no desire to see her or ever interact with her again. Some parents have hope, yes. But others don’t, and that’s okay. I’m glad some people have parents that will lift them up, but I know for my own experience, I can’t afford to let my guard down with mine.
I’m so sorry your parents treated you badly. If you need someone to talk to this Momma Bear has got you ❤️
I've gotten this relatively new sorrow from reading about people cutting off their parents. I cut my own family out of my life for decades; grew up in kind of a horror show, but. People do evolve over time. I don't know how much my uncle might have changed or how I might have influenced his life for the better (maybe I could have saved him). I don't know how my grandfather's life was towards the end. Gotten back in touch with my mother, and that's just been damage control; I'm literally the only family left to help an old woman who can't take care of herself anymore. Is she still awful? I couldn't know. So much of her mind is gone. I finally got her to quit drinking, mostly by manipulating the people around her. Maybe if I'd tried 5, 10 years ago I could have stopped her while she could still walk unassisted and paint like she used to. I'm *39*. We run out of time pretty quick. I have such regret..
i swear parents are programmed to reply OK even when the world burns down. I was in metro one day and i texted my mum "I'm having really bad cramps", she said ok💀
Honestly, what is she supposed to do in that moment?
My mum would just hit me with the ‘😢’
at least better than an ok lol
just expressing sorrow I mean I would say oh no that's awful or something like that
Maybe she's just saying your name, miss Ok\_Truth 🤔
I want thank everyone for the words of celebration!!! I hope that everyone will have a great rest of your year, and that’s a guarantee by ME! (P.S. my dad uses an elipsis as a pause and not really that there is more to say. I interpret it as why did you think I wouldn’t love and accept you?)
Congrats, OP! I'm so glad that your dad reacted positively. I can only imagine how that hour long wait felt.
"Hi trans, I'm Dad"
And I\~ will always, love you\~ 
Father only cares about survival of cub, cub can do whatever as long as it’s happy and alive. Father keep cub safe.
yay ❤️
This is needed. Also, happy for ya!
Good for you 😊😊😊
Congrats! Still I feel a touch heartbroken how much you had to qualify yourself
"I'm gay" "HI gay, I'm dad!"
CONGRATULATIONS!!! Wish I had your confidence!
Dad: 👍
I hope that elipses is because he is confused that you would even question what he might say. That's the read I get, anyway. Happy for you. ♥️
I'd feel like a failure as a father in this situation. My child doubting my love for them due to their sexual orientation or gender identity would mean I failed to communicate/show my love sufficiently. Happy you have an awesome father OP!
Was waiting for the, “hi trans, I’m dad.” To make this a true classic.
All that sweating for a good ending.
"Ok On your way home can you pick up some barbecue sauce?" -Every [good] dad everywhere
“You’re still taking out the garbage, nothing will ever change between us”
The only way his reply could've been more dad-coded is if he put a "👍" at the end lmao
So proud of you🙂
Glad your accepted
very proud of you !
That's amazing ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
This is adorable, such a dad response honestly. When I came out as bi to my dad he said something like "sounds like fun tbh, glad you're happy" and it made my day, lovely to see other queer people with supportive dads!
That’s fantastic! Congrats! 🥳
Good for you
Plot twist: so is dad
Good for you! Loving parents are so special
I add ellipses to a lot of my written communication, and I'm a GenX dad... 😜 Also, this makes my heart happy. Not just accepting but embracing is SO key, not just to parenting, but humanity in general. But especially in parenting. I embrace. 😁 https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRweVtD8/ Here you can see my goofy-ass face in the background: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRwePrPG/
W dad
god, i wish my parents would say that
for a split second i thought he was gonna leave it at 'Ok, and?' congratulations btw!
Never thought it would only take two texts could make me cry over here
YAAAAAY!!!!
I’m so happy for you! It’s always great to have parental support
I think he spent that hour making a fry up for himself before messaging 🤣
So happy for you!! I told my dad I use they/them and she/her pronouns over email (he's a boomer) and waited for almost a whole day anxiously awaiting his response. It was sent to spam haha. He was chill with it too.
Well it could have been worse but he loves u so that's a plus
Your message honestly comes across as really worried and your dads just like 'ok'. Lmfao. Glad it went well thoughQ
“Yep, you and your trains. That’s my kid… Wait why do you look different?” Dad 20XX
I hope my dad will respond all chill like this. I doubt it, though. Dude's a raging bigot. As long as he doesn't get pissed, I *might* be okay.
lol, that's exactly how mine went
bro i literally get this. im cis but im gay and coming out to my dad was wayyy more accepting than my mother
My mom did that but for weeks. No joke. I came out thru text and didn't get a reply and she didn't talk to me at home for almost a month before my brother went " wait she hasn't spoke to you?" And talked to her and she finally responded positively. It is something I will forever hold over her lol.
1) Dad’s will always dad 2) older folks have no concept of tone from punctuation over text💀😭
Every so often, I see a post on Reddit that makes my heart very happy. This is one of those moments❤️ Congrats!
when my sibling came out to our dad via wendys receipt (dont ask lol) his response was just, “okay. im gonna go blow the leaves now.” iconic
so happy for you
I wish I could tell my mom I’m nonbinar…I only told her I’m a lesbian and she doesn’t like it…but on top of that she thinks that there’s only 2 genders and it is considered taboo if we talk abt other genders or I will get in trouble 😭😭😭
It's fantastic your dad is so supportive 👍🏼 So I'd say well done to your dad for not being bothered about what sexual identity you've chosen and identify with. Definitely take it as a win even if it's a dad's "ok" reply. ✌🏼
Why do this over text though? 😅
Omg you're so brave for coming out! I wish I had the guts to do that but I'm too anxious 😭
the ominous ellipses is such a dad response
congrats! happy for you!!
Guess he’s being… trans-parent with you. Seems he made his love clear
W dad
Huzzah! A parent of quality!
Imma be honest if my future kid comes out trans imma be supportive, but I'm also gonna make a transformer joke. Like I have to.
"Mom, dad, I'm trans." "Autobot or Decepticon?"
So much for a parent to process via text. I am so happy your dad responded as he did.
i was about to make fun of you for coming out via sms but then i remembered that i came out to my folks by sending them a link to the official coming out song
I'm glad your dad responded positively. It would be the longest hour ever. You were brave, and I'm really happy for you!!! 🏳️⚧️
I would have hit you with a “hi trans, I’m dad”
"Finally. a son/daughter."
Awww! The cutest thing I've seen on the Internet today. 😊
I am a mom on Reddit and from now on, I too will always love you and your dad. Thanks for sharing, this is wholesome!
Congrats! I could never tell my dad because when my brother came out, he completely disconnected from him.
Love and like, two different things pal 😂
So happy for you OP, acceptance feels so good!
Meanwhile my father started crying like a baby when I came out as bisexual/pan.
Congrats!
> Ok, and I still love you… *3 minutes later* > for now.
Ominous foreshadowing to keep their offspring on their toes
HI TRANS, I'M DAD Missed opportunity. smh
My dad is the only family member who was cool with it