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Exclamatory question marks / Introducing the interrobang

Submitted by Druss on Mon, 2008-10-06 01:16

While trying to explain the use of the "exclamatory question mark", i.e., the "?!" used at the end of some sentences, I was a little nonplussed when asked if it was really named something so ... verbose. As far as I remember, I've been calling them exclamatory question marks. But it certainly is a mouthful, isn't it?! (sic)

Anyways, off I went to prostrate before God Google and beseeched Its holiness to bless me with some of Its digital profundity. Apparently sufficiently moved, It in its infinite wisdom directed me to the Interrobang, or rather the , a non-standard punctuation which fuses together both the question mark and the exclamatory point or to be more precise, the interrogative and the bang.

While it doesn't actually represent the "?!", the interrobang appears to serve the same function and the lack of any other suitable term to call it by means that I'll hereon be "interrobang" to indicate the superfluous exclamatory question mark.

While on the subject, I tend to dislike the use of "!?" over "?!". The former seems to transform the sentence into an interrogative exclamation rather than the other way around ... *shrug*

If anybody has any information to add, preferably with supporting links, please take the pain to comment below - it will be highly appreciated!