When I interviewed for a copy editing posititon at The Daily Cal, one of the interview questions I was asked was, “What is your favorite punctuation mark and why?” We’re all nerdy grammarians at the copy desk, so my response was, “I’m so glad you asked that question. I love the interrobang.”
The what‽
Feast your eyes on that. Aww yeah.
The interrobang.
It’s a combination question mark and exclamation point, to be used in instances like, “SHE SAID WHAT‽” or “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT‽“, when the normal ?+! combo just won’t do. I love the muddled combination of utter surprise, confusion, and exitement an interrobang conveys. And visually, it’s one of the most beautiful punctuation marks out there. I mean, look at those curves and that serif stylizing.
It’s fallen out of fashion to use interrobangs (they were invented in 1962 and were the hot new thing to have on your typewriter keyboard for a while), but I think that retro styling just adds to the interrobang’s charm.
If I ever form a rock band, I want to be called The InterroBANGS. Too bad this band already beat me to the punch. Check out this facebook group dedicated to the revival of the interrobang.
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September 12, 2008 at 12:34 am
Jeff
So practical. I can see why it’s your favorite. . . Wouldn’t it be cool we had this key on our Macs?!
September 12, 2008 at 1:22 am
Katherine
definitely, jeff. even if it was some sort of ctrl+shift+?+! combo (that’s apple+shift+?+! to you mac users) i would use it. for now i have to be content with ctrl+c/ctrl+v-ing it from other sources.
lame.