The interrobang, also known as the interabang , is an unconventional punctuation mark used in various written languages and intended to combine the functions of the question mark, or interrogative point; and the exclamation mark, or exclamation point, known in the jargon of printers and programmers as a "bang". The glyph is a superimposition of these two marks. The interrobang was first proposed in 1962 by Martin K. Speckter.
Application
A sentence ending with an interrobang asks a question in an excited manner, expresses excitement or disbelief in the form of a question, or asks a rhetorical question. For example:
Historically, writers have used multiple punctuation marks to end a sentence expressing surprise and question.
Invention
American Martin K. Speckter conceptualized the interrobang in 1962. As the head of an advertising agency, Speckter believed that advertisements would look better if copywriters conveyed surprised rhetorical questions using a single mark. He proposed the concept of a single punctuation mark in an article in the magazine TYPEtalks. Speckter solicited possible names for the new character from readers. Contenders included exclamaquest, QuizDing, rhet, and exclarotive, but he settled on interrobang. He chose the name to reference the punctuation marks that inspired it: interrogatio is Latin for "rhetorical question" or "cross-examination"; bang is printers' slang for the exclamation mark. Graphic treatments for the new mark were also submitted in response to the article.
Early interest
In 1965, Richard Isbell created the Americanatypeface for American Type Founders and included the interrobang as one of the characters. In 1968, an interrobang key was available on some Remington typewriters. In the 1970s, replacement interrobang keycaps and typefaces were available for some Smith-Corona typewriters. The interrobang was in vogue for much of the 1960s; the wordinterrobang appeared in some dictionaries, and the mark was used in magazine and newspaper articles.
A reverse and upside down interrobang, suitable for starting phrases in Spanish, Galician and Asturian, which use inverted question and exclamation marks, is called an "inverted interrobang" or a gnaborretni, but the latter is rarely used. In current practice, interrobang-like emphatic ambiguity in Hispanic languages is usually achieved by including both sets of punctuation marks one inside the other. Older usage, still official but not widespread, recommended mixing the punctuation marks: ¡Verdad? or ¿Verdad!
Entering and display
Few modern typefaces or fonts include a glyph for the interrobang character. The standard interrobang is at Unicode code point. The inverted interrobang is at Unicode code point. Single-character versions of the double-glyph versions are also available at code points and. Depending on the browser and the fonts installed by the user, some of these may or may not be displayed, or may be replaced with the character from a different font. On a Linux system supporting the Compose key, an interrobang can be produced by ; reversing the order creates the inverted interrobang. On Mac OS X, it is found on the Character Palette, obtained by pressing the key combination. The interrobang can be inserted in HTML with. The interrobang can be displayed in LaTeX by using the package textcomp and the command. The inverted interrobang is the command.
