Not too long ago , ecphonesis points were scorned as sillypunctuation markslargely employed by excited teenage young woman or inexperienced novelists have got trouble conveying emotion otherwise . But today , ecphonesis spot are everywhere . Just ascertain your electronic mail , text message or social medium accounts . exclaiming spot abound . What account for this explosion , and is it a good affair ?
No one knows for sure who invented the exclamation mark , although it was innovate into English as far back as the late 14th 100 ( and was poetically called " the point of wonder " ) . Onecommon theoryis that it was gain from the Latin exclamation of joy , which was " IO , " with the " I " drop a line above the " O " – the look of today ’s exclamation point . Dr. Samuel Johnson , the 18th - century lexicographer , was the person who coined the word " ecphonesis " for sentence that were " pathetical " or full of emotion .
Grammatically talk , an exclamation point is think to be used in justone of two room – to punctuate an exclamatory sentence ( " I ca n’t find my wallet ! " ) or to punctuate an interjection ( " Hurray ! " ) . While exclaiming marks have long been disdain in formal writing , throughout the centuries people regularly used them in personal correspondence . And in the late nineteenth century , yellow journalist and ballyhoo artist often incorporate the startling marks – which printers address shouter , shrieks or bangs – into their work .
During the 20th one C , consumption of the ecphonesis power point calmed down . In fact , while the typewriter was excogitate in the recent 1800s , the exclamation point was n’t given its own keyuntil1970 . The understanding was people were n’t have a bun in the oven to employ it in professional writing . An ecphonesis point was created by typing a stop , backspace , then type an apostrophe on top of it . But around the end of the 20th century , when the internet and texting became far-flung ( followed by societal media a X later ) , exclamation points began popping up everywhere , and in cracking numbers game .
Why the Internet Needs the Exclamation Point
Experts say the ground for the increase is that multitude began communicate preponderantly through electronic means versus personal encounters . When we verbalize with people face to side , we employ optic and audio cues to avail regulate the meaning behind their parole . believe of the divergence when someone says " great estimation " with sincerity and a smile versus with sarcasm and an eye - roll . When these cue are fall behind , as happens during electronic communication , something else must be used to help determine intent – like the ecphonesis full point .
LinguistGretchen McCullochnoted in an article in The Atlantic that the exclaiming point today is used as a sincerity marker , not an intensity marker . " If I terminate an email with ' Thanks ! , ' I ’m not call or being particularly enthusiastic ; I ’m just examine to convey that I ’m sincerely yours grateful , and I ’m state it with a scrap of a social smile , " she sound out .
This is particularly truthful for women . inquiry showsfemales apply exclamation marks more than males in online communications , and the ground is to show friendliness . pass on one off , and content recipients may view you as rude , cold or harsh .
Rachel George , an assistant professor at Washington ’s Whitman College , learn courses in lingual anthropology . She say the rise in the usage , and possible overusage , of the exclaiming point is n’t surprising , because all punctuation is flexile when it comes to societal culture medium . " Because of the way [ electronic communication ] represents a compounding of the write and spoken word , punctuation becomes much more about the aesthetic and the emotional , " she say , and not strictly about grammatic rightness .
She also notice that the wage increase of the exclamation point may be link up to the fact that enquiry point young women and new people of color are linguistic innovators . During the linguistic innovation process , aspects of a new speak style are initially revile . Recall how multitude made fun of Valley Girl lecture in the 1980s , with its overuse of the word " like " and its rise in tar at the remainder of sentence . Yet today , aspects of " Valleyspeak " are widespread . So , if young woman start pepper their texts , emails and social culture medium Post with exclamation point a decade ago , that may help excuse their omnipresence now .
Another possible reason we ’re reckon so many screamers may be the need for speed , according to researchers . We ’re communicating via the written Holy Writ more than ever before , and in shortsighted burst . Sometimes an exclamation point issue forth in ready to hand as shorthand for a few words or sentences we do n’t have sentence to write .
While exclamation percentage point are still frowned upon in some contexts ( consider college term papers),one studyshowed companies using exclamation marks on their LinkedIn messages received 26 percent more suction stop on their concern - to - business channel and 27 percent more clicks on their concern - to - consumer ones .
Despite all of this exclamation point favorableness , there is a limit to their exercise . In the business world , people who use a mass of exclaiming points in content are more likely to be seen as underlings than supervisors , grant toat least one study . And when it add up to carry negative online reviews , using too many exclaiming points do people to discredit your review – unless you ’re an expert in the subject matter , according to another work . Then , exclamation points carry more weight unit .
In the end , prison term will tell whether high exclamation point usage is here to stay ( linguistic innovation ! ) or just a evanesce fad ( so sorry ! )
