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Punctuation Fans Pour Their He@rts Out

!, @, ?, and others mark the spot of blog readers' affections

By M. Morris,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 25, 2010 9:20 AM CDT

(Newser) – Curious? Excited!? Thrilled to see @ move from obscurity to virtual omnipresence? Tell your favorite punctuation mark how you feel. "We’re combining two of our top-ten passions in life and challenging you to write a letter to your favorite punctuation mark," write the editors of the Emdashes blog, "or perhaps one you find elusive, insufficiently loved, or sound but overexposed."

Commenters are embracing the challenge, sharing their love for everything from the ellipsis to the asterisk to marks you may be surprised to learn have names, like the grawlix—the string of characters that represents profanity ("Anyway, #!*@&% you, grawlix," writes one conflicted fan)—and the diaeresis, which the unwashed masses know as an umlaut. You have until Aug. 15 to share the love and maybe win a book. For inspiration, check out a perspective on the plight of the semicolon here and an introduction to the recently invented SarcMark here.

An exclamation point and question mark made of jigsaw puzzle pieces.
An exclamation point and question mark made of jigsaw puzzle pieces.   (?Horia Varlan)
Giant quotation marks on a building facade, part of an art installation.
Giant quotation marks on a building facade, part of an art installation.   (?quinn.anya)
An ampersand.
An ampersand.   (?takomabibelot)
A question mark found on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
A question mark found on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.   (?takomabibelot)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 6 comments
finkster
Jul 25, 2010 2:32 PM CDT
I don't like the period mark because every month my ex-wife was really affected by it so I just ramble on and on and on and on and on and on and on
Camarillolady
Jul 25, 2010 2:27 PM CDT
How about if we start with good grammar and re-title the article "Punctuation Fans Pour OUT Their He@rts", thus not ending the sentence with a preposition.:-)
diltsduo
Jul 25, 2010 1:58 PM CDT
Today I feel like pound sign - question mark - star - exclamation point!
 

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