This week’s theme
Coined words

This week’s words
rusticle
infodemic
interrobang
tulgey
nobodaddy

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(in-TER-uh-bang)

MEANING:

noun: A punctuation mark (‽) formed by a question mark (?) superimposed on an exclamation point (!).

ETYMOLOGY:

Coined in the TYPEtalks Magazine in which the editor Martin K. Speckter (1915-1988), an advertising executive, selected the word interrobang from the suggestions sent by the readers. From interrogation point (question mark) + bang (slang for exclamation point). Earliest documented use: 1962.

NOTES:

Chances are you have used a version of interrobang already. For example, if you have ever said, “You did what?!” An interrobang is a more compact version of “?!”. When expressing excitement, wonder, or disbelief, or when asking a rhetorical question, an interrobang may be just the right punctuation. If you don’t know how to type it on your keyboard, WTF works as a pound-for-pound replacement.

There’s even an inverted interrobang (⸘) for use in Spanish, where an inverted question mark (¿) and inverted exclamation mark (¡) are used at the beginning of the sentence. An interrobang is the logo of the State Library of New South Wales in Australia.

What punctuation mark would you like to form if you could marry two? How would you use it in a sentence? Share below or email us at words@wordsmith.org. As always, include your location (city, state).

USAGE:

“I feel the quick bursts of interjections and interrobangs course through my gut.”
Suzanne Samples; A Mad Girl’s Love Song; Lulu; 2016.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: