Slashdot Mirror
How Many Exclamation Points Do You Need To Seem Genuinely Enthusiastic? (theatlantic.com)
How many exclamation points does it take to exclaim something? One, a human of sound mind and a decent grasp of punctuation might say. But, on the internet, it often doesn't. The Atlantic: Not anymore. Digital communication is undergoing exclamation-point inflation. When single exclamation points adorn every sentence in a business email, it takes two to convey true enthusiasm. Or three. Or four. Or more. I noticed this in my own social circles recently. Multiple exclamation points were popping up in mundane places, not attached to hyperbole or any kind of frenzied emotion. A simple work email might yield a "Sounds good!!!" I find myself doing it, too. "All of these quirks of social media -- that would include exclamation points, and all caps, and repetition of letters, those are the three main ones that show enthusiasm -- people use more of them," says Deborah Tannen, a professor of linguistics at Georgetown University. This sort of inflation is a natural linguistic phenomenon that regularly happens to words, like how awesome was once reserved for that which truly struck awe into a quavering heart and is now scarcely more than a verbal thumbs up. But this time it's happening to punctuation.
You can use 1 exclamation point if a death is involved.
You can use 2 exclamation point if your own death is involved.
And make them Yuuuuge! Have the best exclamation points ever! And lots of really terrific superlatives! I and I alone invented superlatives; the BEST superlatives, believe me! Giant crowds come to see my fantastically bigly superlatives; everyone knows it. Even lyin' CNN claps. 200% TV audience share. Math people had to create new numbers to fit my ratings. Make Superlatives Great Again!
(sorry, couldn't resist)
Table-ized A.I.
Your sig was amusingly relevant.
-=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
...a period is a sign of anger.
It certainly is with my wife...
#DeleteChrome
So we're supposed to stop watching cat videos but we're supposed to read your dissertation?!!!
#DeleteFacebook