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  1. historytoday.com6 min
    14 reads6 comments
    9.3
    historytoday.com
    14 reads
    9.3
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    • TripleG
      Top reader this weekTop reader of all timeReading streakScoutScribe
      4 years ago

      I do love punctuation like the interrobang that show the tone of a thought. I was shocked and appalled that my wife would write a story with virtually no punctuation! I also love the idea of a final stop when you’re sick of texting back and forth and want a graceful ending!

      • Pegeen
        Top reader this weekReading streakScoutScribe
        4 years ago

        Now really, does that last sentence require an exclamation point? Giving my husband anything to read that I had written was like giving it to a stern English professor. He got out his red pen and went to work. It would frustrate me because I felt my lack of punctuation really reflected my tone of voice, which is usually so full of exclamation points as to be distracting! This is a battle that has waged for 18 years but with great humor.

    • jeff4 years ago

      So much interesting history here. Punctuation is one of those things that's way too easy to take for granted. It's crazy to think of brackets or commas as the radical innovations that they were.

      I'm not a fan of the interrobang, however, as I don't care for orthographic ligatures in general. Many programming fonts include ligatures as a feature, cramming multiple characters into a single glyph, such as >= to ≥ for "greater than or equal to." I've always felt they were an interesting concept but more difficult to decipher when reading.

      This article also reminded me of my new favorite podcast, Lingthusiasm, which I highly recommend to anyone who is into this sort of stuff.

      • Pegeen
        Top reader this weekReading streakScoutScribe
        4 years ago

        I’m in for this podcast, sounds really interesting.

    • Pegeen
      Top reader this weekReading streakScoutScribe
      4 years ago

      I LOVE this article - so interesting! Some of the terminology is as fabulous as the graphics shown. My favorite is the “interrobang”, one I don’t use often, so you know I’m really perplexed if I do. I agree with the last paragraph and the trouble with a “full stop”. It would be cool to invent a new punctuation mark for this awkward situation. How about it Readup community, any takers?!

    • Alexa4 years ago

      Love seeing the intersection of written words & speech as explored here. Humans communicate via words more than ever before (even while they read literature etc far less) and the impact on how we communicate has been really fascinating for me.