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Interrobang

Interrobang: Excitement and Disbelief Combined

Wouldn’t it be great if there was punctuation that both elicited excitement and disbelief? Today, people use a combination of a question mark and exclamation point (“?!”) to express this in informal writing. But back in the early 1960s, the interrobang (“‽”) had its moment of fame thanks to advertising executive Martin Speckter. In 1962 Speckter introduced the interrobang as a “typographically eloquent way in which to end a statement that expresses excited disbelief, asks a question in an excited manner, or proposes a rhetorical question.” Due to its popularity, some typewriters included an interrobang key.

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Jeans rolled up in a neat pile.

What to Do with “Pair”?

My friend posted a selfie on Facebook exemplifying the difficulties of short people shopping for pants. We’re both short—like “have to jump to see what’s on the top shelf at the grocery store” short. I started to comment on her post about my favorite pair of ankle-length jeans (which was definitely floor-length on me) when I paused mid-sentence with a brain cramp: Should I use “were” or “was” with “pair” when talking about my go-to jeans from high school?

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Happy National Punctuation Day

Punctuation Has Its Own Holiday

Today is National Punctuation Day! This new holiday was originally celebrated on August 22, the birthday of the founder Jeff Rubin. Rubin wanted a date that he could easily remember, but he changed the date two years later to September 24 so that it landed after the beginning of the school year. He wanted to remind educators to teach students that punctuation matters.

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