exclamation point
14
2.1
- noun
- /ˌɛkskləˈmeɪʃən pɔɪnt/
- US
:
signo de exclamación
- She added an exclamation point at the end of her note to show her enthusiasm.
- exclamation point mark
It was AE book that was full of hot pink and a lot of exclamation points.
- It was AE book that was full of hot pink and a lot of exclamation points.
- It was when I sent him the first act of the Nigeria show and that we shot in Lagos and it just says out fucking standing with two exclamation points.
Examples
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I resolve to use only two strategically placed exclamation points per email.
Blog text (29) -
There are a lot of other words covering up the windows, all with exclamation points.
Fiction book (1993) -
Uh, why does it have an exclamation point?
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You can put an exclamation point by that, Miss.
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Put an exclamation point here.
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How do audience and purpose help determine when and why an exclamation point might be necessary or desirable?
Blog text (12) -
When you see an exclamation point, you should say the sentence loudly.
Fiction book (2002) -
Sidebar Rule #3: Use an exclamation point at the end of expressions of strong, excited feelings.
Fiction book (2002) -
There's an exclamation point at the end of that "thank you" in case you didn't catch it.
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Cristina told me the story the way she tells everything, with exclamation points and pauses, rolling her eyes.
Fiction book (2000)
Synonyms
3
1.1
A mark at the end of a sentence that shows strong feeling or a loud command
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound simply combines 'exclamation' (strong feeling or cry) with 'point' (a mark), so the meaning 'a punctuation mark indicating strong feeling or surprise' is directly derivable from the constituents. This is a straightforward, compositional naming pattern (cf. 'exclamation mark' in other varieties and many languages), so a B1 learner who knows the parts will understand it.
Etymology
The noun exclamation point comes from an old writing mark. One popular story says old writers wrote the letters 'io' for 'joy' with the i above the o, and over time that shape became the line and dot we call an exclamation point. That's why the mark shows 'strong feeling', 'excitement', or 'surprise' at the end of a sentence.