Interrobang

By Richard Nordquist

The interrobang (in-TER-eh-bang) is a nonstandard mark of punctuation in the form of a question mark superimposed on an exclamation point (sometimes appearing as ?!), used to end a rhetorical question or a simultaneous question and exclamation.

A blend of the words interrogation and bang, interrobang is an old printer’s term for the exclamation mark. Though editor Martin K. Speckter is generally credited with the mark's invention in 1962 (its name was suggested by a reader of Speckter's magazine, Type Talks), a version of the interrobang had already been used for decades in the speech balloons of comic strips.

Mac McGrew has characterized the interrobang as "the first new punctuation mark to have been introduced in three hundred years and the only one invented by an American" (American Metal Typefaces of the Twentieth Century, 1993). However, the mark is rarely used, and it hardly ever appears in formal writing.

Liz Stinson:

"In many ways one could say that the interrobang has now been superseded by the emoticon, which makes similar use of glyph combinations in order to add emphasis and feeling to the sentence that precedes it."

–"The Secret History of the Hashtag, Slash, and Interrobang." Wired, October 21, 2015

New York Times:

"From 1956 to 1969, Mr. Speckter was president of Martin K. Speckter Associates Inc... In 1962, Mr. Speckter developed the interrobang, since recognized by several dictionaries and some type and typewriter companies.

"The mark is said to be the typographical equivalent of a grimace or a shrug of the shoulders. It applied solely to the rhetorical, Mr. Speckter said, when a writer wished to convey incredulity.

"For example, the interrobang would be used in an expression like this: 'You call that a hat?!'"

– Martin Spekter obituary: "Martin K. Speckter, 73, Creator of Interrobang." The New York Times, February 16, 1988