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.

The exclamation point, otherwise known (appropriately, I’d say) as the “bang,” has become the standard punctuation for most sentences. But may I ask why? Are we really that excited all the time? The exclamation point has a few wonderful and legitimate purposes: to indicate volume (“‘Hey!’ she shouted”), to indicate alarm or warning (“Look out!”), or to indicate strong emotion (“I love bread!”). Somewhere along the way, however, we’ve begun attaching it to any sentence that is not sad. And then, because one little punctuation mark cannot carry the full weight of just how exciting (or angry, or important) these words are, WE STARTED CAPITALIZING AND BOLDING EVERYTHING! But wait, there’s more! One exclamation point is not enough! I’m so happy about GOING TO THE GROCERY STORE, I need to use three!!!

Call me an old curmudgeon, but I think there are a few good reasons to cut all this over-emphatic nonsense out. The first reason being I don’t want my emails to look like a comic book … but here are some better ones:

Words should carry their own emphasis. Let’s face it: if what you’re saying isn’t exciting on its own, punctuation is not going to help you. Using an exclamation point is often a cheap way of conveying emotion or importance. If it’s a strong thought, use strong words. And if you have used strong words, trust your reader to understand their connotations. Don’t “laugh at your own joke,” as Fitzgerald put it.

If everything is extraordinary, nothing is extraordinary. Let’s think about this from a very practical perspective: if I constantly used exclamation points, what would be left to me if I wanted to say something like, “I have a boyfriend!” (which would be an exclamation indeed)? I would have no way of signifying that this sentence is much more exciting than my previous announcement that I went to the grocery store. Emphasizing everything is the same as emphasizing nothing.

Sometimes good is good enough. Not everything has to be the best ever. I worry sometimes about our constant need for the fancy and flashy, and I wonder if that need has slipped into our speech. Let’s not lose sight of the beauty of simple experiences and simple words. We don’t need to make things more exciting than they are; instead, let’s just mean what we say.

I’m not banishing the exclamation point (although, I would most certainly advocate banishing caps lock), but I am saying a little goes a long way. Use sparingly. And various other clichés communicating moderation. Just give the Period a chance, OK? He’s amazingly versatile and not at all a bad guy. Most importantly, don’t ask me if I’m alright or wonder if I’m secretly mad at you because of my lack of exclamations. And don’t worry: any announcement related to anything remotely resembling a boyfriend will be accompanied by appropriate punctuation.

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Written with: Andy McKee,nightly cereal, the worst case of ADD-like symptoms I’ve ever had

Comments

  1. Jesse Auciello (@jesseauciello) - January 10, 2013 @ 11:29 pm

    WELL SAID!1 I couldn’t agree more!!!

  2. roslyn lapp - January 11, 2013 @ 12:33 am

    I pinned this, and honestly, sadly, found it hard to not use an exclamation point at the end of any of my 3 descriptive sentences. Ugh… I whole heartedly agree with this, just like the word awesome no longer means “awesome”, which is unfortunate. I need to start working on less caps, exclamation points and use of the word awesome. Wish me luck! ;)

  3. Rebekah - January 11, 2013 @ 1:03 am

    Erin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU! Thank God for caps lock on iPhones.

    • Erin - January 11, 2013 @ 9:20 am

      I just love your rapier wit.

  4. Jeanette - January 11, 2013 @ 9:18 am

    Great article, Erin. I don’t know if I can stop using exclamation points but I loved the article. I wish I could ask F. Scott Fitzgerald a question though. What’s wrong with laughing at your own joke? How good a joke can it be if it doesn’t make you laugh? (??)

    • Erin - January 11, 2013 @ 9:19 am

      Ha! Ok, good point.

  5. Melinda - January 11, 2013 @ 12:44 pm

    I love that your example of strong emotion is “I love bread!”

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