Interrobanging

Jun 01, 2008 22:12



There is a non-standard punctuation mark intended to combine the functions of a question mark and an exclamation mark in English called an interrobang, which resembles those marks superimposed over one another (‽). The sequence of "?!" or "!?" is used more often, however.

American Martin K. Speckter invented the interrobang in 1962. As the head of an advertising agency, Speckter believed that advertisements would look better if copywriters conveyed surprised rhetorical questions using a single mark. He proposed the concept of a single punctuation mark in an article in the magazine TYPEtalks. Speckter solicited possible names for the new character from readers. Contenders included rhet, exclarotive, and exclamaquest, but he settled on interrobang. He chose the name to reference the punctuation marks that inspired it: interrogatio is Latin for "a rhetorical question" or "cross-examination";[2] bang is printers' slang for the exclamation point. Graphic treatments for the new mark were also submitted in response to the article.[3]

http://www.interrobang-mks.com/

The interrobang (/ɪn'tɛrəbæŋ/) (‽) is a rarely used, nonstandard English-language punctuation mark intended to combine the functions of the question mark (also called the interrogative point) and the exclamation mark (known in printers' jargon as the bang). The typographical character is a superimposition of those two marks. The same effect is also frequently achieved by using both, e.g., "How could you do such a thing!?" or "How could you do such a thing?!"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interrobang

Is it just me, or does this sound like punctuation porn?

I say we interrobang all over the internets and bring it back to popularity. What say you‽

dirty word theater, fun, writing, punctuation

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