You'd be a fool to hate exclamation marks, but a bigger fool not to be concerned by the widespread misuse of them. Like many swear words, I think they're best employed for effect - and it's presumptious and self-defeating to suppose that every sentence deserves one.
D. Keith Mano, a novelist and journalist, opined this about exclamation marks: "The exclamation mark should be used only in dialogue, and then only when the speaker has just been disemboweled." This is an opinion for which I have some sympathy.
I thought I'd just pass along my concurrence. The problem with the exclamation point, except when used humorously, is that it tends to belabor the obvious.
You'd be a fool to hate exclamation marks, but a bigger fool not to be concerned by the widespread misuse of them. Like many swear words, I think they're best employed for effect - and it's presumptious and self-defeating to suppose that every sentence deserves one.
ReplyDeleteD. Keith Mano, a novelist and journalist, opined this about exclamation marks: "The exclamation mark should be used only in dialogue, and then only when the speaker has just been disemboweled." This is an opinion for which I have some sympathy.
ReplyDeleteAs in, one presumes: 'Ow! That really hurt!'
ReplyDeleteI am inclined to agree.
I thought I'd just pass along my concurrence. The problem with the exclamation point, except when used humorously, is that it tends to belabor the obvious.
ReplyDelete"Talking (Exclamation) Points":
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/fashion/exclamation-points-and-e-mails-cultural-studies.html