We don't have enough useless punctuation
Many of you are no doubt familiar with the interrobang, which is a modification of the exclamation mark:
intended to add a tone of excitement to questions. It looks like this:
and is alternately written as a juxtaposed combination of question and exclamation mark. It is used for questions such as "He did?!", "You what!?", and "Paul Lynde?!"
Mainly due to the ease with which one can simply type both punctuation marks, the interrobang is grossly underused. However, it does enjoy the status of being the best-known of the unknown innovative punctuation marks, unlike the doubt point (
), irony mark (؟), indignation point (
), certitude point (
), authority point (
), acclamation point (
) and love point (
).
Our current set of punctuation marks, even with the above innovations, still has yet to cover the entire range of possibilities of tone and emotion in human speech. The exclamation point is well and good for indicating excitement, exuberance, or excessive joy. But what about emotions in the opposite direction? Upwards of 14 million Americans experience the symptoms of depression each year, and that's not even counting angsty teenagers. How can we ever hope to represent and respect the diversity in this country if we can't even cough up a punctuation mark for different groups?
For this reason, I suggest the desperation mark:
It is to be used for declarative statements which include either a lack of affect ("Sigh. Beans again.") or for intense despair, sadness, gloom, or woe ("I don't know how to go on with life.")
The desperation mark is modular, too! I present the interropang:
The interropang is meant to accompany sad or existential questions such as "Whatever shall we do?", "Why did he have to die?", or "Sigh. Beans again?" The resemblance of the interropang to that of a coathanger emphasizes that this mark is perfect for questions dealing with one's hang-ups.
I doubt these punctuation marks will ever see any use unless we get someone well-known to promote them. Does anyone happen to have Jonathan Frakes's cell phone number?
intended to add a tone of excitement to questions. It looks like this:
and is alternately written as a juxtaposed combination of question and exclamation mark. It is used for questions such as "He did?!", "You what!?", and "Paul Lynde?!"
Mainly due to the ease with which one can simply type both punctuation marks, the interrobang is grossly underused. However, it does enjoy the status of being the best-known of the unknown innovative punctuation marks, unlike the doubt point (
), irony mark (؟), indignation point (
), certitude point (
), authority point (
), acclamation point (
) and love point (
).Our current set of punctuation marks, even with the above innovations, still has yet to cover the entire range of possibilities of tone and emotion in human speech. The exclamation point is well and good for indicating excitement, exuberance, or excessive joy. But what about emotions in the opposite direction? Upwards of 14 million Americans experience the symptoms of depression each year, and that's not even counting angsty teenagers. How can we ever hope to represent and respect the diversity in this country if we can't even cough up a punctuation mark for different groups?
For this reason, I suggest the desperation mark:
It is to be used for declarative statements which include either a lack of affect ("Sigh. Beans again.") or for intense despair, sadness, gloom, or woe ("I don't know how to go on with life.")The desperation mark is modular, too! I present the interropang:
The interropang is meant to accompany sad or existential questions such as "Whatever shall we do?", "Why did he have to die?", or "Sigh. Beans again?" The resemblance of the interropang to that of a coathanger emphasizes that this mark is perfect for questions dealing with one's hang-ups.I doubt these punctuation marks will ever see any use unless we get someone well-known to promote them. Does anyone happen to have Jonathan Frakes's cell phone number?
Labels: We don't have enough...
posted by Casey at
3/03/2008 12:31:00 PM
1 Comments
