Bloody Well Write

This gorgeous, little punctuation mark is currently making a name for itself in grammar circles and, hopefully, beyond.

“But what the heck is it‽” you exclaim (and rightly so, as it is an unusual beast).

The interrobang shows surprise and question

The interrobang is a nonstandard punctuation mark that represents the colliding of a question mark and an exclamation point (?!). Rather than having two — or more, if over-the-top form is your M.O. — punctuation marks next to each other, the interrobang gives the whole shebang in one, well, bang of the keypad.  Yet it’s an elusive cat.

Try finding the symbol for the interrobang on your keyboard. Not there, is it? The unfortunate thing is that, so far, the interrobang hasn’t come into its own, typographically speaking. Very few fonts include it and no shortcut keystroke(s) exists that I know of to easily insert one into copy. You have to click Command+Option+T on your Mac and then find the symbol and insert it. (PC lovers: I apologize, but I got nothin’ for ya.)

But hey: I’m glad that it’s available at all.

Martin K. Speckter invented the interrobang back in 1962. As the head of his advertising agency, he offered up the idea of a single punctuation mark to take the place of the albeit short string of question marks and exclamation points. Speckter collected possible names and chose interrobang (interro from the question mark’s other name, interrogative point, and bang from printers’ jargon for exclamation point).

The irony mark

The interrobang is sometimes used to imply irony or sarcasm. These uses are fine, I suppose, since no other well-known symbol comes as close to representing them as does the interrobang. However, one mark — the irony mark — has been put out there for evaluation. It is, in essence, a backward question mark. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of takers; the irony mark is even more obscure than the interrobang. I think it would be über-cool, but no one’s asking my opinion. Sniff. Regardless, I’d say to go ahead and use the interrobang for a hint of irony or sarcasm if you wish. At least until the grammar police come knocking.

Happy trails!

SAK