Interrobang

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The interrobang (/ɪnˈtɛrəbæŋ/),[1] also known as the interabang[2] Template:Char (often rendered as ?!, !?, ?!?, ?!!, !??, or !?!), is an unconventional punctuation mark intended to combine the functions of the question mark (also known as the interrogative point)[3] and the exclamation mark (also known in the jargon of printers and programmers as a "bang").[4] The glyph is a ligature of these two marks[5] and was first proposed in 1962 by Martin K. Speckter.[6]

Application

A sentence ending with an interrobang states a question in an excited manner, expresses excitement, disbelief, or confusion in the form of a question, or asks a rhetorical question.[7]

For example:

  • You call that a hat‽
  • Are you out of your mind‽
  • Are you a dummy‽

Writers using informal language may use several alternating question marks and exclamation marks for even more emphasis. However, this is regarded as poor style in formal writing.[8]

History

File:Interrobang.svg
An interrobang in the Palatino Linotype font

Historically, writers have used multiple consecutive punctuation marks to end a sentence expressing both surprise and question. Template:Quote

Invention

American Martin K. Speckter (June 14, 1915 – February 14, 1988)[9] 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.[10] Speckter solicited possible names for the new character from readers. Contenders included exclamaquest, 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";[11] bang is printers' slang for the exclamation mark. Graphic treatments for the new mark were also submitted in response to the article.[12]

Early interest

In 1965, Richard Isbell created the Americana typeface for American Type Founders and included the interrobang as one of the characters.[13] In 1968, an interrobang key was available on some Remington typewriters. In the 1970s, replacement interrobang keycaps and typefaces were available for some Smith-Corona typewriters.[14] The interrobang was in vogue for much of the 1960s; the word interrobang appeared in some dictionaries, and the mark was used in some magazine and newspaper articles.[12]

Continued support

Most fonts do not include the interrobang, but it has not disappeared. Lucida Grande, the default font for many UI elements of legacy versions of Apple's OS X operating system, includes the interrobang, and Microsoft provides several versions of the interrobang in the Wingdings 2 character set (on the right bracket and tilde keys on US keyboard layouts), included with Microsoft Office.[15] It was accepted into Unicode[16] and is included in several fonts, including Lucida Sans Unicode, Arial Unicode MS, and Calibri, the default font in the Office 2007, 2010, and 2013 suites.[17]

Upside-down interrobang

An upside-down interrobang (⸘), combining ¿ and ¡, suitable for starting phrases in Spanish, Galician, and Asturian—which use inverted question and exclamation marks—is called an "inverted interrobang" or, rarely, a gnaborretni (interrobang spelled backwards).[18] In current practice, interrobang-like emphatic ambiguity in Hispanic languages is usually achieved by including both sets of punctuation marks, one inside the other: (¿¡De verdad!? or ¡¿De verdad?! [Really!?]).[19] Older usage, still official but not widespread, recommended mixing the punctuation marks: ¡Verdad? or ¿Verdad![20] Template:Further information

Codepoint

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Unicode encodes these variants:

Examples of use

  • The logo of the National Endowment for the Humanities incorporates eight exclamation marks and eight question marks; although their main strokes are separate, they all share the same dot, as in some variants of interrobangs.
  • Australian Federal Court Justice Michael Wigney used an interrobang in the first paragraph of his 2018 judgment in Faruqi v Latham [2018] FCA 1328 (defamation proceedings between former Federal Opposition Leader Mark Latham and political campaigner and writer Osman Faruqi).[25]
  • In chess, an interrobang is used to represent a dubious move, one that is questionable but possibly has merits.[26] (See also the evaluation symbols ?! (dubious move) and !? (interesting move).)

See also

References

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  1. ^ Template:MerriamWebsterDictionary
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."interabang". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). November 1, 2011. Archived from the original on November 14, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Mandeville, Henry (1851). A Course of Reading for Common Schools and the Lower Classes of Academies. Archived from the original on September 15, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."bang, n.¹ meanings, etymology and more | Oxford English Dictionary". www.oed.com. Archived from the original on May 21, 2024. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Gleckler, Arthur. "The Jargon File". Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Martin K. Speckter, 73, Creator of Interrobang". The New York Times. February 16, 1988. Archived from the original on March 20, 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Interrobang (Punctuation)". ThoughtCo. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Punctuation" (15 ed.). Chicago Style Q&A. April 2, 2015. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2025 – via Chicago Manual of Style Online.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Martin K. Speckter, 73, Creator of Interrobang". New York Times. February 16, 1988. Archived from the original on March 20, 2016.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Spekter, Martin K. (March–April 1962). "Making a New Point, or, How About That …". TYPEtalks.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Burton, Gideon O. "interrogatio". Silva Rhetoricae: The Forest of Rhetoric. Brigham Young University. Archived from the original on November 19, 2005. Retrieved August 28, 2007.
  12. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Haley, Allan (June 2001). "The Interrobang Is Back". fonthaus.com. Archived from the original on May 7, 2008. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Houston, Keith (2013). Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, & Other Typographical Marks. New York: W. W. Norton. p. 29.
  14. ^ Smith-Corona flyer illustrating the Changeable Type system with an exclamation mark / interrobang unit Script error: No such module "webarchive". Accessed March 7, 2009.
  15. ^ The Interrobang: A Twentieth Century Punctuation Mark. Script error: No such module "webarchive". Accessed August 28, 2007.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Unicode Code Charts, General Punctuation, 2000–206F" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 4, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
  17. ^ MSDN fontblog Script error: No such module "webarchive".. Accessed August 28, 2007.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Unicode Code Charts, Supplemental Punctuation, 2E00–2E7F" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on August 12, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
  19. ^ RAE's Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas Script error: No such module "webarchive". Template:In lang
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.de Buen, Jorge (2008). Manual de diseño editorial (3rd ed.). Gijón: Trea. ISBN 978-84-9704-378-6.[page needed]
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."State Library |New South Wales". State Library of NSW. November 11, 2015. Archived from the original on January 8, 2022. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
  22. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Pearson Brand Guidelines: Logo" (PDF). Pearson.com. 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  23. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Roman Mars (July 10, 2018). "Interrobang". 99% Invisible (Podcast). Radiotopia. Archived from the original on July 30, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
  24. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Easterbrook, Frank H (June 13, 2012). "Robert F. Booth Trust v. Crowley" (PDF). p. 8. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 18, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018. We don't get it. In order to avoid a risk of antitrust litigation, the company should be put through the litigation wringer (this suit) with certainty‽ How can replacing a 1% or even a 20% chance of a bad thing with a 100% chance of the same bad thing make investors better off?
  25. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Faruqi v Latham [2018] FCA 1328". www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au. Archived from the original on January 25, 2022. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  26. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Matanović, Aleksander, ed. (1973). Šahovski Informator [Chess Informant]. Vol. 14. Belgrade. pp. 8–9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

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Look up ‽, !?, ?!, or interrobang in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

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