The interrobang – I’ve seen readers and even some writers argue that to use it is to “show ignorance” because, as they claim, “it’s not grammatically correct”! So what is the interrobang – is it or isn’t it legit? Authors demand to know!
Let’s take a closer look at the interrobang and see what we can find out!
What is the interrobang, and when and where do we use it?
According to the internet:
For example, a sentence ending with an interrobang asks a question in an excited manner, expresses excitement, disbelief or confusion in the form of a question, or asks a rhetorical question:
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- “You call that a knife?!”
- “Are you out of your mind?!”
- “What are those?!” (Wikipedia.)
It bears mention that writers used to use the “?!” form of what would later become known as the interrobang since well before the advent of the punctuation mark in 1962. Speaking from memory, I can remember in English class in 1986 (some 36 years ago), that we covered the interrobang briefly, where it was mentioned as a legitimate form of punctuation (as “?!”) so it’s clearly not a new thing. So why do some writers (claiming to be purists) claim it’s “not legitimate” and shouldn’t be used?! There, see what I did?! Oops, I did it again!
Moving on, we’ve established that what later became known and stylized as the interrobang existed previously in common use.
“Most writers who want to communicate what the interrobang communicates continue to do as they did before the advent of the mark, throwing in !? or ?! as they feel so moved.” – Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
The origins of the interrobang as we know it today, as a formalized punctuation mark, can be found in the 1960’s advertising industry.
“Martin K. Speckter (1915 – February 14, 1988)[8] conceptualized the interrobang in 1962. As the head of an advertising agency, Speckter believed that advertisements would look better if copywriters conveyed surprised rhetorical questions using a single mark. He proposed the concept of a single punctuation mark in an article in the magazine TYPEtalks. Speckter solicited possible names for the new character from readers. Contenders included exclamaquest, QuizDing, rhet, and exclarotive, but he settled on interrobang. He chose the name to reference the punctuation marks that inspired it: interrogatio is Latin for “rhetorical question” or “cross-examination”; bang is printers’ slang for the exclamation mark. Graphic treatments for the new mark were also submitted in response to the article.” – Wikipedia.
Although the interrobang is commonly represented at the end of a sentence with the combined symbols “?!” did you know there is also a unique symbol for the actual interrobang?
This is an overlay of an exclamation mark over a question mark, with a shared dot or fullstop underneath. Although this is a stylized graphic, the original general usage in the 1960s would’ve been with a typewriter, as it would be easy to just type a question mark, then hit backspace and type an exclamation mark over it. With a PC it’s not so simple as on paper of course, as two characters cannot occupy the same space at the same time on the screen, so unless you specifically hunt for and use the symbol in usable format (eg ‽) the general representation of the interrobang in common usage is the “?!” we know so well.
“Most punctuation marks have been around for centuries, but not the interrobang: it’s a product of the 1960s. The mark gets its name from the punctuation that it is intended to combine. Interro is from “interrogation point,” the technical name for the question mark, and bang is printers’ slang for the exclamation point. The interrobang is not commonly used-its absence from standard keyboards can explain its paucity in print perhaps just as well as its paucity in print can explain its absence from standard keyboards.” – Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
If you enjoyed this article, why not read “A Guide To Self-Publishing In South Africa” by the same author?
So what is the interrobang?! – A Definitive Disambiguation:
The interrobang is a combination of two punctuation marks, the question mark and the exclamation mark, represented either by the glyph “‽” or separate characters “?!” in order to denote surprise and excitement at the end of a sentence.
Since it is described in both technical, professional and general writing sources as well as dictionaries, is catered for in many font schemes, as well as being in general use in both forms, there is no reason to suspect that the interrobang is not a legitimate form of expression in the 21st century.
There – this is something we all now know! Use the interrobang without fear – those criticizing its use clearly don’t know what they’re talking about!
Read more:
- A Brief Introduction To Self-Publishing: A 5 part series of articles introducing the reader to the concept of self-publishing.
- Forewords, Prologues, Prefaces & Introductions Explained: this explains the differences and similarities and when it is appropriate to use them and for what.
- The Interrobang – What Is It?!:What is the interrobang, where and when should it be used? Should it be used at all?
- Asterism Or Dinkus – What’s In A Name?: Do you still write in actual chapters? For god’s sake – why?
- Afterwords & Epilogs Explained: this explains what afterwords and epilogs are for and when it is appropriate to use them.
- Word Length – When Is A Novel, A Novel?: This explains the word lengths for different categories of book or story.
- Which Self-Publishing Platform – Or All Of Them?:An article about experimenting with which self-publishing distribution platforms to use concurrently. Also read the follow-up article: More Isn’t Always Better – My Self-publishing Platform Strategy Revisited.
- A Guide To Self-Publishing In South Africa – a guide to being an indie author in spite of being stuck in South Africa by Christina Engela.
- Some Great Resources For Writers: A collection of useful tools and articles giving advice to new writers trying to make their way in a minefield of obstacles.
