Exclamation Points: A Lesson In None
October 9, 2017
That is the lesson. Use none. Few things in your entire life will ever deserve the exclamation point. Very few. The exclamation point is its own little mask. The exclamation point is meant to hide the fact that you don’t really understand punctuation use.
We’re not fooled.
Exclamation points don’t work for:
Anger
Excitement
Laughter
Arousal
Sadness
Emphasis
Cute!
Feel free to add to the list.
Exclamation points MIGHT work for:
We’re having a baby!
The house is on fire!
Do that again, slower! (I don’t know why you would ever write this.)
You get the idea. Right? There are only two roads with the exclamation point:
- Learn to use it (and we both know you’re not keen on doing that).
- Don’t use it at all.
Take the road less traveled.
