The Exclamation Point

If I were to be named the Chief of Grammar Police, one of my first proclamations would be to ban the exclamation point. It’s the only punctuation mark that has one and only one legitimate function: to express exclamation (“Oh!) or command (“Stop!”) – in dialogue. “Shit!” does all the work that’s needed. It indicates spoken exclamation. “Shit,” she shouted. would be okay but dampen the emotion. “Shit!” she shouted.  would just be redundant. In writing, diction and syntax should carry the emotion, not punctuation. Shit. The word alone expresses the emotion (which is why you don’t see it in popular publications).

Most writing handbooks do caution against the “overuse” of the exclamation point. The venerable Strunk and White, in The Elements of Style, rightly instruct us: “Do not attempt to emphasize simple statements by using a mark of exclamation.” They suggest It was a wonderful show. (period) rather than It was a wonderful show! (exclamation point). But the examples of acceptable exclamation point use they offer are What a wonderful show! and Halt! – without any quotations marks to indicate that these are (or should be) dialogue. There might be a subtle difference between the written It was a wonderful show! (not preferred) and What a wonderful show! (preferred), but I don’t see it. Better would be to pare the rule down to: Only use an exclamation point to express exclamation or command in dialogue. Or else. Not, Or else!