My friend Jill shared this article last week.
It’s Time to Fix America’s Email Exclamation Point Addiction!
Reading the article made me laugh because I think I am an exclamation point addict!
The author’s point about needing to include feeling or energy in emails and texts and comments is the exact reason I use them. Being a pretty expressive personality, the need to share that expression in my writing leads me to use exclamation marks.
If I were speaking the word “great” or laughing, both would be done with feeling and oomph. Simply writing “great” or “ha ha ha” doesn’t quite portray my emotion like “Great!” and “Ha! Ha! Ha!” does, in my head at least.
Of course, when writing letters or emails for work my grammar is more professional. Most of the time, my excessive exclamation points are limited to personal writing. However, my feelings about people who email or post using poor grammar (especially your vs you’re, their vs they’re, etc.) lean towards negative, so I must think about this perpetual punctuation.
I will try to limit this overuse starting now!
What do you think? Are exclamation points overused in emails and social media? Are they losing their effectiveness because they are overused? Or do you read with excitement and feeling when you see one (or ten)?
I don't know. Who cares?
ReplyDeleteI believe that too many exclamation points is fine when is when one is writing a personal blog, personal e-mail, personal text message, personal letter (you know, the old fashioned way with a pen... actually, that brings me to question I will hold until later) or a personalanything.
However, when one is writing anything professional, legal or what could be considered literature or journalism, then proper punctuation should be used at all times.
Now for my question:
As all communications these days seem to be typed in one form or another, would one use as many exclamation points if handwriting a letter or statement?
@Mathew - Ohhhh, good question. I don't know if I would. Thinking about when I used to write letters, I believe I did use an exclamation point here and there, but never multiple in a row.
ReplyDeleteIt is inappropriate professionally. I do however use them in emails to colleagues who are also friends.
Can you pick out how many places I wanted to add ex pts, but didn't because of this darn article? :)
@Matt&Kim; then you could use the size of the script to convey emotion.
ReplyDelete@Kim; I don't believe I've E-V-E-R used the ! with longhand. But using it with blocky Times New avec or Helvetica sans is almost a requirement to lift it from train station info-signage.
And then you have Arial. This one annoys the tits off of me it's so flighty. A good font is Gill. Named for Eric Gill. And I would like it even if Gill wasn't a randy old goat sine it picks up colour and doesn't fight you.
In general though if people picked their own font they would use less dross. The only caveat, why is there no irony slash sarcasm emoticon or punctuation. Communication across the Atlantic requires it.
@Vince - Larger size or bold print would probably work. In blogger or facebook that's not so easy and I've heard writing in all caps seems to be frowned upon too. Although I caught on to your feeling in "ever". :)
ReplyDeleteI had to check out Gill font as I wasn't familiar with it, even though I have it. It reminds me a bit of Century Gothic which is the one I primarily use, especially for school as the g and the a are written correctly for little kids just learning their letters. I too find TNR so difficult to look at.
In regards to handwriting, in addition to script size, let's not forget the ever popular underline... and multiple underlines.
ReplyDelete@mathew - that is true, although I don't think I've ever been much of an underliner. Remembering writing letters home when I lived back east, well let's face it, that was almost 20 years ago and I don't really remember much about the letters I wrote. Nowadays my long hand writing has gotten lazy, but since I print a lot at school my printing has gotten so much better.
DeleteToo funny! Yes, I really think it's FUNNY(!!!) and not just, meh, funny...
ReplyDeleteI know that I overuse exclamation points all the time. In fact, once I write a comment, I go back and delete half of them. I can't stop myself!!!
m.
@mark - I've been trying to curb them as well so end up rereading and deleting. Why do I care? I don't know. :)
Deleteand green ink written with a nib.
ReplyDeleteSorry, my last comment was under Hanks. Oh and I was the soldier with the pen and a variety of nibs. No green ink though, but not for the want of trying. I think I'll use that '@' in future, if I remember.
ReplyDeleteJust a raw one; when should you use an exclamation point. I know leaping from a perfectly good airplane on a static line would deserve one. But isn't the rest based on overenthusiastic mothers praising the result of potty training.
@vince - I like green ink as well. When I'm in meetings note-taking or doodling, I prefer green to blue or black.
DeleteThe rule for an exclamation mark use is "at the end of an emphatic declaration, interjection, or command" and to "convey extreme emotion", according to our grammar books. When writing for personal use, it's probably hard to judge if someone is correctly showing the emotion they have in their own mind. I'm quite animated when speaking so I could probably find reason to make everything I write have extreme feeling or emotion. Is that wrong? Probably not. Is it annoying? Maybe :).
Oh! Oh! oh! I don't think I care!!!!!
ReplyDelete@BC - ha ha ha, good I'm glad. When I read this, my first thought was the same. Who cares? But then I worried that I was the irritating over-exclamation point-er this article referred to. I'm glad you don't think so. That way I can use as many as I deem necessary when I comment on your posts. :)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!!!!! They make me feel happy inside. Unless they are the angry kind. In that case, perhaps they should be controled. It's all about love as far as I am concerned.
ReplyDeleteI'm guilty!!!!!
ReplyDelete@Crystal - Me too! Yay! :)
ReplyDelete@Jlo - So I'm in good company then. Case closed!