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The exclamation mark was introduced into English printing during this time to show emphasis. [10] It was later called by many names, including point of admiration (1611), [11] [a] note of exclamation or admiration (1657), [12] sign of admiration or exclamation, [13] exclamation point (1824), [14] and finally, exclamation mark (1839). [15]
Ditto mark: Quotation mark: ÷: Division sign: Slash (Solidus) (/), Obelus Dotted circle (Used as a generic placeholder when describing diacritics) Combining Diacritical Marks ⹀ ⸗ Double hyphen: Almost equal to … Ellipsis = Equals sign ℮ Estimated sign! Exclamation mark: Inverted exclamation mark, Interrobang: ª: Feminine ordinal ...
Punctuation in the English language helps the reader to understand a sentence through visual means other than just the letters of the alphabet. [1] English punctuation has two complementary aspects: phonological punctuation, linked to how the sentence can be read aloud, particularly to pausing; [2] and grammatical punctuation, linked to the structure of the sentence. [3]
This rule varies for other punctuation marks; for example, American English follows the British English rule when it comes to semicolons, colons, question marks, and exclamation points. [ 19 ] [ further explanation needed ] The serial comma is used much more often in the United States than in the UK.
Exclamation points (!) should usually only be used in direct quotes and titles of creative works. Bold type is reserved for certain uses. Quotation marks for emphasis of a single word or phrase are incorrect, and "scare quotes" are discouraged. Quotation marks are to show that you are using the correct word as quoted from the original source.
These new rules were slow to be adopted: there are 19th-century books in which the printer uses neither "¡" nor "¿". [citation needed] Outside of the Spanish-speaking world, John Wilkins proposed using the upside-down exclamation mark "¡" as a symbol at the end of a sentence to denote irony in 1668.
These two styles are most commonly referred to as "American" and "British", or sometimes "typesetters' quotation" and "logical quotation". Both systems have the same rules regarding question marks, exclamation points, colons, and semicolons. However, they differ in the treatment of periods and commas. [23] [24]
Dashes (such as an en dash –, which can be coded by –, and a longer em dash —, which can be coded by —) are punctuation marks with a variety of uses in English typography; see MOS:DASH. The hyphen-minus-, also known as the keyboard hyphen and keyboard stroke, has several uses along its role as a word joiner.