Interrobang

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‽

The interrobang (‽) ( English [ ɪnˈtɛɻəbæŋ ]), also question mark , is a rare non-standard punctuation mark that is not used in German. It combines the functions of a question mark and an exclamation mark . Typographically , the two characters are superimposed.

application

An interrobang at the end of a question should show that it is being asked with emphasis ( emphasis ):

  • How much did you pay for these shoes‽
  • You go with Marie ‽
  • You traveled to Paris in a submarine‽
  • What did I just eat?

history

Especially in informal texts (especially advertising and comics ), two or more punctuation marks were used in a row at the end of a sentence decades before the invention of the Interrobang, expressing surprise and question at the same time:

What did you say

The question mark is usually in the first place to emphasize the question character of the sentence, but there is no general rule for this. Sometimes several question and exclamation marks are used in a row.

Martin K. Speckter, head of a US advertising agency, invented the Interrobang in 1962. He believed that ads would look better if the copywriter could convey a surprised question with a single character. He suggested his concept in an article in TYPEtalks magazine and asked readers to suggest a name for the new character. Speckter finally decided on Interrobang . This name refers to the two combined punctuation marks: interrogatio is the Latin word for question, bang is an informally used word for the exclamation mark among English printers. The readers of the article also provided suggestions for the design of the new sign.

In 1966, Richard Isbell of the American Type Founders published the font Americana , into which he added the Interrobang. From 1968 onwards, some Remington typewriters had a corresponding key. The interrobang was especially fashionable in the 1970s. The word has been included in dictionaries and the character has been used in magazines and newspaper articles.

However, interrobang never got beyond a fad. While most fonts don't offer interrobang, it hasn't gone away.

Representation in the computer

The Interrobang was added to code position U + 203D in Unicode and is available in the fonts Lucida Sans Unicode , Arial Unicode MS or Linux Libertine , among others . In HTML it can be inserted with the code ‽or ‽.

With LaTeX , the interrobang from the tc fonts can be used with the package textcomp; the associated command is \textinterrobang. The Gnaborretni , an upside-down interrobang, is also \textinterrobangdownavailable under the command .

With the Neo keyboard layout , it can be generated by Compose, 1(also from the numeric keypad), followed by ?and !in any order. For the Gnaborretni the last two keys are replaced by ¿and ¡.

Under Microsoft Windows the Interrobang can be represented by the Alt-Code Alt + 8253, provided that the character is included in the character set. On Linux systems with newer versions of X11 , the character can be entered with Compose+ !?. In GTK + or Qt -based applications it can also be generated by pressing Strg+ Umschalttaste+ U, 203dand then pressing the Space or Enter key .

graphic default Palatino Linotype Calibri Arial Unicode MS Code2000 Helvetica Unicode
Interrobang.svg ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽

various

  • When communicating over the Internet, the consequence is?! used in a similar sense, since mostly only the text is used to convey the content, the combination of characters indicates that the content of a previous statement is understood logically, but is rhetorically questioned.
  • In Michael Gerber's Harry Potter parodies, the Interrobang depicts Barry Trotter's scar.
  • An inverted Interrobang (⸘, U + 2E18) is called Gnaborretni ( Ananym from "Interrobang") and is used at the beginning of Spanish , Asturian and Galician sentences. The inclusion in Unicode was proposed on April 1, 2005 and has since been accepted.
  • An Italian film called Interrabang was made in 1969.
  • The American organization Partnership for a Drug-Free America used an interrobang in the logo.

literature

  • Keith Houston: Shady Characters. The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, & Other Typographical Marks . WW Norton, New York, NY 2013, ISBN 0-393-06442-5
  • Simon Garfield: Just My Type. A book about scriptures . Ullstein Buchverlage 2012, ISBN 978-3-550-08879-7 (Original edition: Profile Book, London, 2010)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ralf Herrmann: Interrobang - a special punctuation mark. In: Typography.info. November 4, 2013, accessed November 6, 2014 .
  2. ↑ https://www.theweedstreetjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/PDFA-logo.jpg