January 10, 2013

On Exclamation Points

“Cut out all these exclamation points. An exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke.” -F. Scott Fitzgerald

Can I ask an honest question? What did the Period do to deserve such a bad reputation? When did everyone start thinking our old, faithful punctuation mark was so angry and sad? I’ve always found him to be a nice sort of fellow: simple, content, straightforward in the best sense. I mean, it’s not that he’s unhappy; he’s just not yelling about it, you know? I for one like the Period, but he seems to have gone out of fashion, replaced with his boisterous younger brother by people whose lives, I can only conclude, are just too exciting for him. Which leaves me, dear readers, sounding either bored or grumpy any time my proverbial pen hits the page.

Yes, anyone who has received a text message or email from me might have noticed a shocking lack of exclamation points. I say shocking because I assume most people are in a state of shock most of the time, either that or they are compulsive yellers. At least, that’s what their punctuation tells me.