Punctuation is an important, albeit boring, part of everyday life. It’s used in all kinds of text works across thousands of different languages around the globe. When a person thinks of punctuation, they think of common symbols such as full stops (periods), exclamation marks, question marks, etcetera. While these may be sufficient for daily use, there happen to be several unique situations that are not covered by these.

An interrobang, pronounced as [in-teh-reh-bang], is a unique form of punctuation often forgotten about today. It can either be written like “‽” or by placing both of its parents next to one another like “?!”/”!?”. It was invented in 1962 by Martin K. Speckter, an advertising executive. He reasoned that using two separate punctuation marks at the end of one sentence was “clunky” and “ugly”, inventing the interrobang as a solution.

The name of the interrobang comes from alternate names of the punctuation it's composed of. Firstly, a question mark can also be known as an “interrogative point”, which gives the prefix “interro-”. Secondly, in the world of programming, an exclamation mark can be known as a “bang”, giving us the suffix “-bang”.

The interrobang fell out of use because most people simply thought there wasn't a good enough use case for it. Not only did it serve a function that already existed; it was impossible to type on most keyboards and/or typewriters at the time. The utility it granted was just not enough compared to how much effort it required to utilize it correctly.

Languages are molded by their speakers over decades, often unintentionally. The interrobang is yet another example of the failure that results from attempting to force a change. While its creator may have passed away years ago, this symbols story might not be over just yet. The internet has revived many things thought to be lost before, perhaps this could be next?


“What Is an Interrobang?! Definition and Examples.” What Is an Interrobang?! Definition and Examples | Grammarly, 4 Jan. 2024, www.grammarly.com/blog/punctuation-capitalization/say-what-meet-the-interrobang/.‌
“The Rise and Fall of the Interrobang.” The Economist, www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2014/10/01/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-interrobang .