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The interrobang (Template:IPAc-en),Template:Refn also known as the interabang<ref name="interrobang">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Char (sometimes rendered as ?!, !?, ?!?, ?!!, !??, or !?!), is an unconventional punctuation mark intended to combine the functions of the question mark (also known as the interrogative point)<ref name="A course of reading for common schools and the lower classes of academies">Template:Cite book</ref> and the exclamation mark (also known in the jargon of printers and programmers as a "bang").Template:Citation needed The glyph is a ligature of these two marks<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and was first proposed in 1962 by Martin K. Speckter.<ref name="NYT1988">Template:Cite news</ref>
ApplicationEdit
A sentence ending with an interrobang states a question in an excited manner, expresses excitement, disbelief, or confusion in the form of a question, or asks a rhetorical question.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
For example:
- You call that a hat‽
- Are you out of your mind‽
- Your dog ate what‽
- Are you a dummy‽
Writers using informal language may use several alternating question marks and exclamation marks for even more emphasis. However, this is regarded as poor style in formal writing.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
HistoryEdit
Historically, writers have used multiple consecutive punctuation marks to end a sentence expressing both surprise and question. Template:Quote
InventionEdit
American Martin K. Speckter (June 14, 1915 – February 14, 1988)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> conceptualized the interrobang in 1962. As the head of an advertising agency, Speckter believed that advertisements would look better if copywriters conveyed surprised rhetorical questions using a single mark. He proposed the concept of a single punctuation mark in an article in the magazine TYPEtalks.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Speckter solicited possible names for the new character from readers. Contenders included exclamaquest, and exclarotive, but he settled on interrobang. He chose the name to reference the punctuation marks that inspired it: interrogatio is Latin for "rhetorical question" or "cross-examination";<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> bang is printers' slang for the exclamation mark. Graphic treatments for the new mark were also submitted in response to the article.<ref name=fonthaus>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Early interestEdit
In 1965, Richard Isbell created the Americana typeface for American Type Founders and included the interrobang as one of the characters.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1968, an interrobang key was available on some Remington typewriters. In the 1970s, replacement interrobang keycaps and typefaces were available for some Smith-Corona typewriters.<ref>Smith-Corona flyer illustrating the Changeable Type system with an exclamation mark / interrobang unit Template:Webarchive Accessed March 7, 2009.</ref> The interrobang was in vogue for much of the 1960s; the word interrobang appeared in some dictionaries, and the mark was used in magazine and newspaper articles.<ref name=fonthaus />
Continued supportEdit
Most fonts do not include the interrobang, but it has not disappeared. Lucida Grande, the default font for many UI elements of legacy versions of Apple's OS X operating system, includes the interrobang, and Microsoft provides several versions of the interrobang in the Wingdings 2 character set (on the right bracket and tilde keys on US keyboard layouts), included with Microsoft Office.<ref>The Interrobang: A Twentieth Century Punctuation Mark. Template:Webarchive Accessed August 28, 2007.</ref> It was accepted into Unicode<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and is included in several fonts, including Lucida Sans Unicode, Arial Unicode MS, and Calibri, the default font in the Office 2007, 2010, and 2013 suites.<ref>MSDN fontblog Template:Webarchive. Accessed August 28, 2007.</ref>
Upside-down interrobang Edit
An upside-down interrobang (combining ¿ and ¡, Unicode character: ⸘), suitable for starting phrases in Spanish, Galician, and Asturian—which use inverted question and exclamation marks—is called an "inverted interrobang" or, rarely, a gnaborretni (interrobang spelled backwards).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In current practice, interrobang-like emphatic ambiguity in Hispanic languages is usually achieved by including both sets of punctuation marks one inside the other (¿¡De verdad!? or ¡¿De verdad?! [Really!?]).<ref>RAE's Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas Template:Webarchive Template:In lang</ref> Older usage, still official but not widespread, recommended mixing the punctuation marks: ¡Verdad? or ¿Verdad!<ref>Template:Cite bookTemplate:Page needed</ref> Template:Further information
CodepointEdit
Template:See also The symbol is encoded in Unicode's General Punctuation block at codepoint Template:Unichar. The inverted interrobang is at codepoint Template:Unichar. Single-character versions of the double-glyph versions are also available at codepoints Template:Unichar and Template:Unichar.
Examples of useEdit
The State Library of New South Wales, in Australia, uses an interrobang as its logo,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> as does the educational publishing company Pearson, which thus intends to convey "the excitement and fun of learning".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The logo of the National Endowment for the Humanities incorporates eight exclamation marks and eight question marks; although their main strokes are separate, they all share the same dot, as in some variants of interrobangs.
Chief Judge Frank H. Easterbrook used an interrobang in the 2012 United States Seventh Circuit opinion Robert F. Booth Trust v. Crowley.<ref name="99pi 2018" /><ref name="Easterbrook 2012" />
Australian Federal Court Justice Michael Wigney used an interrobang in the first paragraph of his 2018 judgment in Faruqi v Latham [2018] FCA 1328 (defamation proceedings between former Federal Opposition Leader Mark Latham and political campaigner and writer Osman Faruqi).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In chess, an interrobang is used to represent a dubious move, one that is questionable but possibly has merits.<ref name="CI14">Template:Cite book</ref> (See also the evaluation symbols ?! (dubious move) and !? (interesting move).)