The Interrobang’s Brief, Glorious Life
What do you get when you combine a question mark and an exclamation point? In the 1960s, frustrated ad man Martin K. Speckter answered that question by inventing the interrobang…
Unlocking the Universe of Languages
What do you get when you combine a question mark and an exclamation point? In the 1960s, frustrated ad man Martin K. Speckter answered that question by inventing the interrobang…
What's with the upside-down question marks (¿) and exclamation points (¡) in Spanish? Far from being a random quirk, these inverted marks are a clever solution to a linguistic puzzle,…
Ever seen this symbol: ¶? Once a vibrant and essential mark in medieval manuscripts, the pilcrow guided readers through dense text long before paragraph indentations existed. Discover the forgotten history…
The question mark seems like a fundamental part of writing, but it wasn't always there. This ubiquitous symbol of curiosity has a fascinating and debated history, evolving from a simple…
Beyond its formal roles in dates and poetry, the forward slash has become a digital powerhouse, shaping everything from online tone with tags like /s (sarcasm) to defining romantic pairings…
Look at your keyboard. Tucked above the number 8 is a symbol we see every day, yet rarely think about: the asterisk (*). From marking a password field to bleeping…
That familiar squiggle, the tilde (~), is more than just a decoration on the Spanish 'ñ' or a casual emoji. From its origins as a space-saving trick for medieval scribes…
Why is Spanish the only major language to use inverted question marks (¿) and exclamation marks (¡)? This unique punctuation wasn't an organic evolution, but a deliberate, top-down rule introduced…
The U.S. Second Amendment's meaning hinges on a single, hotly debated comma. This grammatical ambiguity has fueled a centuries-long battle between two interpretations: is the right to bear arms a…
Hervé Bazin (1911-1996), a famous French writer and essayist, is known not only for his literary contributions but also for his intriguing proposals concerning French...