And Your Point Is?

In 1986 Hamilton, Ohio, changed its name to Hamilton! Ohio. Aside from its total weirdness (yes, Hamiltonians, while no doubt you’re lovely people, it is weird and it screws up comma placement and according to reports it cost $35,000 of taxpayers’ money to redo the city stationery), the exclamation point brings up a sore subject with lots of people – that is, exclamation points themselves. You’re either an exclamation point-type person or you’re not. And, it seems, like the divide between those who support Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, apparently the twain shall never meet. One of my favorite blogs, The Pirate Geek, recently referred to exclamation points as “louche and lazy.” Take that, Hamilton. But exclamation points have a long and proud history and I’m on their side. Really! I am! They’ve been around since the 15th century and originally were meant as a “mark of admiration.” The symbol itself is believed to originate from the Latin word io, an exclamation of joy, and, in fact, may be an altered combination of those two letters. For every embarrassing Love Smart! by Dr. Phil there’s an incredible O Pioneers! by Willa Cather. And let’s not forget Shakespeare: “A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!” Or James Joyce: “God, these Bloody English!”  Or Jane Austen: “But you have such a generous spirit!" And I could go on. The point about exclamation points is that they can convey a robust spirit or excitement. Used sparingly, they’re an effective way to express a variety of feelings, meanings, and attitudes. Outcry: Help! I need somebody! Help! Not just anybody! Irony: The surgeon fainted at the sight of blood! Name calling: You beast! Joy: I love you! Enthusiasm: Count me in! Shock: Well, I never! Loud noises: Wham! Pow! Zap! Disappointment: Work just won’t be the same without you! Newness: Try ‘em, you’ll like ‘em! Excitement: It’s a best practice! You get a lot of bang for your buck. But it’s their overuse -- which like anything else that’s really good only when really rare -- that renders them useless. So go ahead, free yourself to use an exclamation point once in a while. In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Alice says, “ever so many lessons to learn!” And with today’s post? One less. Hurrah! Note: In the original version of this post I misspelled "stationery" (I wrote "stationary"), so my thanks to Nicole, a reader from Australia, for pointing it out. Further proof that everyone needs an editor.

Comments

[Lisa Braithwaite]

Dan, I have to say I'm a big fan of the exclamation point. I probably use it too frequently, but it's an expression of my personality, so I go with it!

[JP]

Which side are you on regarding the writing of the famous search engine as "Yahoo!" or "Yahoo" in journalistic stories? Periodicals seem split on this issue.

[Tim]

One English town in North Devon uses an exclamation point. It's "Westward Ho!"
And we simply thought it was a command by the wagon train drivers heading west.

[Nicole]

Hmmm...must send this post to a few of my colleagues who like to use multiple exclamation points (although we call them exclamation marks in Australia - why the diffrence I wonder?).

On another note, can I please suggest that the Hamilton taxpayers where paying to redo the city's stationery, not its stationary?

[Dan Santow]

JP, I suppose I prefer it without the exclamation point (I just looked to see how The New York Times does it - and you're right, even within the publication it's both ways.

Tim, isn't't Westward Ho! also the town in a book by Kingley Amis?

And Nicole, thank you for pointing out the error of my ways. I changed stationary to stationery and tipped my hat to you. Appreciate your close reading.