What in the hell is that!?

pO157.

Posted to Etcetera on Sat Jun 23, 2007 at 05:26:07 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.

The interrobang, a relatively new but obscure punctuation mark combining the question mark and exclamation point, is making a comeback due to the diligent efforts of an internet based campaign by grammarians upset with the lack of sentence concluding diversity.

Linguists study language and (in some cases) its evolution over time. Sometimes new dialects and words appear while others drop out of use. You can even find conferences to discuss such lofty topics, if you're in to that type of thing.

The interrobang was invented in 1962 by the notable Martin_K._Speckter, who handled promotion for publications such as the Wall Street Journal and Barron's Weekly. In addition, he edited the since discontinued but surely spell binding Type Talks Magazine, a publication devoted entirely to the discussion of typesetting, alternative alphabets, font choice and the like. Mr. Speckter wanted a punctuation mark that would convey a surprised query while saving time and space. It was initially lauded as a useful tool by the Wall Street Journal, who stated in a supporting editorial that they now had the correct punctuation for 'Who forgot to put gas in the car?' Sadly his invention soon fell out of favor with the public and left the public sphere.

How obscure is it? It is obviously ignored in the education of youth and students of the English language. A brief google search for the well known sentence regulators "period," "comma," and even the dignified (yet free on Wheel of Fortune) "ampersand" get about 600,000,000, 55,000,000 and 14,000,000 entries. But "interrobang" gets no love, with a puny 275,000 hits, most of whom appear to be angry posts from Anglophiles demanding more respect (or at the very least a cover on Time Magazine) for a timesaving character.

But fear not! Hardy advocates for the interrobang have taken up the cause. The Punctuation Liberation Front (previous confining itself to arguing against "archaic" punctuation names in favor of more evolved nomenclature) have moved their activites on to MySpace, publishing a manefesto extolling the virtues of the interrobang. Font bloggers claim several initial victories on the war against extra characters in exclamatory interrogatories, including the fact that the newer font sets released by Microsoft includes several interrobangs.

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7	Distinction keta. Mon Jun 25, 2007 at 12:04:30 PM EST 5.00 (funny)

I'd just like to point out that the interrobang (?) should NOT be confused with the interrobong ("Have you been smoking marijuana this evening, sir?)

6	Re: What in the hell is that!? gerrymander. Mon Jun 25, 2007 at 11:51:39 AM EST 4.50 (astute)

The problem with the interrobang is that if it's too small, it just looks like a fat exclamation point. And "too small" includes normal, 12-point text size.

8	OMG‽ 3fingerspointback. Mon Jun 25, 2007 at 04:23:45 PM EST 4.50 (brilliant, funny)

You mean I can only use this symbol by setting post to HTML formatted, then typing out the characters & # 8 2 5 3 ; without spaces‽‽‽

Clearly, what's needed are some new emoticons to present a killer app for this symbol.

:‽ (I'm chewing on something)

8‽ (I just broke my tooth while chewing on something)

‽:o (I have nostalgia for New Wave music)

(is 3fingerspointback)

10 8	Re: OMG‽ dgraham. Tue Jun 26, 2007 at 02:57:59 AM EST none

No unicode support‽

10

Re: OMG‽

3fingerspointback.

Tue Jun 26, 2007 at 11:25:36 AM EST

none

We have unicode support--in the comments if not the comment subjects--but it still seems awfully inconvenient to hunt around way up in the 8000s-range for the weird little ⁥ character.

(is 3fingerspointback)

1	Re: What in the hell is that!? pO157. Sat Jun 23, 2007 at 03:53:43 PM EST none

Does this remind anybody else of the ABBA song "Boomerang?"

Just wondering.

Making somebody happy is a question of give and take
You can learn how to show it so come on, give yourself a break
Every smile and every little touch
Don't you know that they mean so much
Sweet sweet kisses so tender
Always will return to sender

Like an intero, an intero-bang
Dum-be-dum-dum be-dum-be-dum-dum

OK, I hope this wasn't the weirdest start to a thread in the history of the board or anything.

9 1	Re: What in the hell is that!? thefadd. Tue Jun 26, 2007 at 02:18:21 AM EST 4.00 (funny)

Does this remind anybody else of the ABBA song "Boomerang?"

It reminds me of just about everything except a legitimate punctuative pursuit.

make it rain you nappy headed ho's

2	Re: What in the hell is that!? skeptic. Sun Jun 24, 2007 at 01:12:12 PM EST none

I do not think that in the current age of anti-intellectualism, when most of the general public doesn't even know how to use a comma correctly (much less a semi-colon) we should be introducing yet another punctuation mark for people to misuse. I believe that if you are asking an urgent or emphatic question, you can still use a question mark and allow the exclamation mark to be implied (or alternatively, just use both, as in the title of this story, without having to superimpose them to create a new symbol).

3 2	Re: What in the hell is that!? Lou. Sun Jun 24, 2007 at 04:28:58 PM EST 4.00 (astute)

While I agree with you that we don't need another symbol in an age that has become barely literate, I think this new symbol could work...it just needs a proper image marketing campaign. Look how well something like this work out for Prince.

It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine

4 3	Re: What in the hell is that!? skeptic. Mon Jun 25, 2007 at 09:07:38 AM EST 4.50 (funny, funny)

Of course, anything can be made to work with a proper marketing campaign. And the new interobang marketing campaign could be just the thing to take our minds off global warming.

5 2	Arguing The Contrary uncarved block. Mon Jun 25, 2007 at 11:45:14 AM EST none

Laying aside my serious reservations that this era is any more anti-intellectual than any other, this would seem a perfect time to introduce this kind of punctuation. Instead of having to rely on the the contrast between the punctuation and the content to transmit the meaning- and hope that meaning reaches enough readers- the interrobang would clear up more problems than it created. At least for a while, until smiley faces migrate into print, and a whole new range of extra content is added after the sentence is ended.
Will it happen? Hell no. Samuel Johnson (and that's enough excuse to link to one of my favorite essays of all time) observed that every innovation suffers doubly, because there's an established order that's doing just fine the way things are, while those supporting a change are usually less than certain that a change will be worth the effort. On one side you have editors, writers, publishers, and printers, all of whom are doing fine enough without ruffling the feathers of the reading population; on the other, only a few who feel the need for a new addition strongly enough to argue with certainty that even this minor change is required. Right now, the competition doesn't look to be much of one, though stranger things have happened.

Ex ignorantia ad sapientiam; e luce ad tenebras

12	Threadjack! pO157. Wed Jun 27, 2007 at 11:47:16 AM EST none

I just think its funny that a sub about an obscure proposed punctuation mark will likely generate more comments on here than the one about Ron Paul. I mean, come on, where is the Net Roots, people?

12

Re: Threadjack!

MayorBob.

Wed Jun 27, 2007 at 03:30:10 PM EST

5.00 (funny, funny)

It's obvious that the answer to getting Ron Paul to become a household word in America is to have him legally change his name to Interobang Paul.

Illegitimi non carborundum.

13

Re: Threadjack!

pO157.

Wed Jun 27, 2007 at 05:51:34 PM EST

none

Everybody already says "Who the hell is he!?" anyway, so might as well make it official.

This story: 14 comments (6 from subqueue)

Post a Comment

pO157.

Posted to Etcetera on Sat Jun 23, 2007 at 05:26:07 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.

Distinction

keta.

Mon Jun 25, 2007 at 12:04:30 PM EST

5.00 (funny)

Re: What in the hell is that!?

gerrymander.

Mon Jun 25, 2007 at 11:51:39 AM EST

4.50 (astute)

OMG&#8253;

3fingerspointback.

Mon Jun 25, 2007 at 04:23:45 PM EST

4.50 (brilliant, funny)

8

Re: OMG&#8253;

dgraham.

Tue Jun 26, 2007 at 02:57:59 AM EST

10

Re: OMG&#8253;

3fingerspointback.

Tue Jun 26, 2007 at 11:25:36 AM EST

Re: What in the hell is that!?

pO157.

Sat Jun 23, 2007 at 03:53:43 PM EST

1

Re: What in the hell is that!?

thefadd.

Tue Jun 26, 2007 at 02:18:21 AM EST

4.00 (funny)

Re: What in the hell is that!?

skeptic.

Sun Jun 24, 2007 at 01:12:12 PM EST

2

Re: What in the hell is that!?

Lou.

Sun Jun 24, 2007 at 04:28:58 PM EST

4.00 (astute)

3

Re: What in the hell is that!?

skeptic.

Mon Jun 25, 2007 at 09:07:38 AM EST

4.50 (funny, funny)

2

Arguing The Contrary

uncarved block.

Mon Jun 25, 2007 at 11:45:14 AM EST

Threadjack!

pO157.

Wed Jun 27, 2007 at 11:47:16 AM EST

12

Re: Threadjack!

MayorBob.

Wed Jun 27, 2007 at 03:30:10 PM EST

5.00 (funny, funny)

13

Re: Threadjack!

pO157.

Wed Jun 27, 2007 at 05:51:34 PM EST

OMG‽

Re: OMG‽

Re: OMG‽