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Subject:Re: On use of the exclamation mark From:mpriestley -at- VNET -dot- IBM -dot- COM Date:Mon, 22 Aug 1994 12:49:07 EDT
Les Klein writes:
>A polite suggestion for my writing colleagues.
> The exclamation mark should never be used just for emphasis.
>That is, it must be reserved for EXCLAMATIONS, e.g., LOOK OUT!, I FOUND
>IT!, and so on. Italics, bolding, and underlining can be used for emphasis.
A polite disagreement:
An exclamation point is used to mark an outcry or an emphatic or ironical
comment. In order not to detract from its effectiveness, however, the
author should use it sparingly.
Look out!
Your comment was certainly lacking in tact!
How can you say that!
The emperor, it seemed, had forgotten to notify his generals!
Suddenly the ambassador perceived that all was lost!
-- Chicago Manual of Style, 13th Ed. 5.13 (p. 135)
Later,
Michael Priestley
mpriestley -at- vnet -dot- ibm -dot- com
Disclaimer: speaking on my own behalf not IBM's
