
You may have seen a lot of these lately…
Until the late 1970s, the exclamation point (also known as a “dembanger” or “dog’s cock”) was not featured on standard typewriters. Instead, one typed a period, backspaced and then typed an apostrophe. While this made for rather crooked conclusions to imperative clauses, it also compelled the writer to give pause before employing what, in our opinion, has since become the most overused key on the QWERTY board.
And texting has only made things worse. In finalizing plans for a first date, a colleague was recently scolded by his companion for texting “See you tonight.” She felt his use of the period—or, to be more eye-rollingly specific, his omission of the exclamation point(s)—implied he wasn’t excited to meet her.
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