Full Stop/ Period
When we use . at the end of a sentence, it is called Full stop in British English and in American English it is called Period.
As Decimal separator:
It is used to separate decimal points
Example:
The answer to this question is 7.8896
When we use it as a decimal separator we usually pronounce it as a point.
As Dot
When we use it in internet protocols, it is pronounced as Dot.Example:
111.111.11.1
Similarly, we pronounce Generalways.com as General ways Dot com
Some more differences in the use of Full stop in British and American English:
In British English full stop is normally omitted after titles and in abbreviations that are pronounced as individual letters.
Examples:
Mr, Ms, Dr, UNO, UET etc.
In American English, we use a full stop in such cases.
Example: Mr., Ms., Dr., U.N.O, U.E.T etc
In AmE, full stops are used inside quotation marks even when they are not part of the quoted sentence; in BrE, the punctuation indicates whether the full stop forms part of the quotation.
Compare:
“Carefree” means “free from care or anxiety”. (BrE)
“Carefree” means “free from care or anxiety.” (AmE)
