drawn pictures this is animated gif

1962 was not long ago in terms of languages, printing and such, so it is within bounds to say that it was a short while back that a New York advertising executive by the name of Martin K. Speckter noticed that expressions of querying shock were being left unserved by efforts of symbolic emphasis. Simple sentences such as, "You did what - - " simply could not be punctuated properly. The late Mr. Speckter pointed out that the common practice of doubling up the question mark and the exclamation point is typographically cumbersome, aesthetically unattractive and, at best, inexact. One could never be sure which symbol to place first when providing emphasis to such sentences. He argued that a single mark of punctuation was needed to describe the circumstance when the feelings of incredulity and puzzlement are combined. And so, he created the interrobang.

The first part of the word, interro, is short for interrogation point, which is another name for a question mark. An interrogation is a questioning, from the Latin inter- (in the presence of) and -rogare (to ask).

The second part, -bang, was originally a printer's slang word for an exclamation point. That word has migrated into the jargon of computer world where it has joined ranks with the new meanings for such words as dot (period [.]), squiggle (tilde [~]) and hat (caret [^]).


Since inception the interrobang has been met with varying degrees of acceptance. It has inspired design contests, names of magazines, a music production company, at least one college newspaper and a very informative "short history" organization site at interrobang-mks.com.The folks there point out that in 1968 Remington Rand included the interrobang on an optional keyboard and that Microsoft Word has four versions in its Wingdings 2 Font. They include on their one page site an example from one of the contests that is quite fetching. It's the black&white one in the box ===>

I use the term critters advisedly. I use it in much the same way the movie of the same name illustrates cute things that can get out of control under certain circumstances and do a whole lot more than go bump in the night. The interrobang has become something of a recurring object of obsession to me. To discourage myself from wasting too much time I put a sign in plain view from my desk warning me of the risks of misplacing reality when spending too much time imagining matters that convey questioning surprise. The problem is that I could not resist punctuating the last sentence on the sign with an interrobang. Now, that which was meant to be a warning serves not as a deterrent or even a modifier but as a stimulus and I just can't make myself take the sign down. It looms there, always tempting.

Many, many . . . many long hours into the nights of lost days have I spent styling new forms of interrobangs. Being an obsessive is not an easy thing. After a recent, particularly long session of design scribblings, a glint of strange parching covered the surface of my eyeballs. This crust of troubles was visible in the mirror. I left the robust aroma of my latest pot of brewing coffee to depart on a road trip. I needed to redirect my spirits. The first I noticed seriously wrong was that the girl who tends the cash register at the local QuickGrab layed change on the counter instead of handing it. She not only avoided eye contact but even simple conversation. This was the same girl with whom I have had a long term flirting relationship. On this occassion she pointed out that the tad bit of delusional daft that generally serves to delight had digressed into limb swinging monkeyhood. On her suggestion I headed directly home lest I be confined elsewhere by authority.

Upon my unexpected early arrival home I noticed that the interpretive squiggles which I thought were safely held by paper and gravity to the desktop, had anthropomorphized into writhing critters of willful conduct. Some were twirling about and casting locked stares with each turn. One was splashing in the center of the coffee pot - bounding, pogo stick like, on an anchoring period that had turned into a rubber-ball. There was a high-heeled lady rocking to her own beat and some twins dancing and shaking like castanets to the rhythm of Latin music. Marks of surprised questions were active everywhere I looked, leaving wet trails of dark coffee in their paths. And, such expressions. I captured several examples before they escaped ===>

performing interrobangs
performing interrobangs bouncing ibang hat performing interrobangs hispanic interrobang doubles performing interrobangs
performing interrobangs the spotlite area performing interrobangs
performing interrobangs performing interrobangs
performing interrobangs dancing interrobang
performing interrobangs
performing interrobangs performing interrobangs

These are but the tamer, smaller representatives of the various interrobangs that have sprung into being. Nudge one of the little critters with your cursor. You might have to allow a moment for it to wake up but then you'll get a tiny example of what moves about beckonning in my nights. Give one a click and you'll end up in the midst of different colors of the same type. If you drag one of those loose from the web page you may Insert it into a document and re-size it for some unusual emphasis. And, yes, this is part of their plot to multiply and spread. Whether or not this is a nefarious endeavor will require patience to discover.

I did not provide vector versions as those pose the constant threat of leaping loose to punctuate the skyline. Left to their own devices they tend to grow to wall size and one got loose the other day to cover the blank side of a building. I did, however, think to include a larger version of the obvious narcissit of the group in the Images category. One good look will convince you that one would give not a whit whether an uninformed viewer who unwisely skipped this marvelous expose can figure out what in all it actually means.

patrig