14 Punctua on Marks That You Never Knew Existed

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Where have you been all my life, the Interrobang Less so, the Asterism, despite the awesome name. How many of
these did you know already? Be honest.
Jack Shepherd
posted about a day ago
486 Responses

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Dagger

Also called an Obelisk. This bad boy (on the le ), and its two-headed friend (on the right) the Double Dagger

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or Diesis, represents a javelin, which is cu ng out extraneous stu from your text. Its primary use through the
ages has been to mark out superfluous repe ons in transla on, though nowadays it mostly just stands in as
a kind of footnote.

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Also called a Wedge, an Up-Arrow, and a Hat, which is cute. The word caret is La n for "it lacks," which is
convenient, because the caret is primarily used to indicate something that's missing from the original text.

Solidus

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Not to be confused with a slash! The Solidus is also called a Shilling Mark (presumably by old Bri sh dudes in
top hats) and it is at a much steeper angle than a boring old backslash. Back before decimiliza on took the
world by storm, the Solidus was used to set apart dierent values of currency from each other.

Asterism

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14 Punctua on Marks That You Never Knew Existed

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Squirtle and Myrtle are two baby side-necked
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The Asterism has an awesome name, a cool look, and a really lame usage. It's for indica ng minor breaks in
text. It can also mean "un tled," apparently.

Now there's an image that sears itself right into

the brain. Luckily this

Guillemets

Guillemets means "Li le Williams," which is interes ng but unhelpful. They're named a er a 16th Century
French printer. Their primary role is in non-English languages that use them as quota on marks.

Sheer Stroke

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Mainly used for Boolean func ons and proposi onal calculus. Truth tables. Stu like that.

Because Sign

This one's so cool. It's like the "Therefore" sign, but upside-down, and it means because.

Sec on Sign

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To indicate sec ons in a text, mostly by lawyers, who are too good for regular punctua on marks. You
probably knew this one, but it's cool-looking, so.

Exclama on Comma

Just because you're excited about something doesn't mean you have to end the sentence.

Ques on Comma

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14 Punctua on Marks That You Never Knew Existed

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The interroga ve version of its best friend the Exclama on Comma.

Interrobang

It's a combo-Exclama on/Ques on mark, and it's awesome. It is the glorious punctua onal equivalent of
saying OMGWTF?!

Hedera

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Hedera is La n for ivy. Why that is relevant here is not very clear at all, but this li le glyph was used back in
the day to mark paragraph breaks. Seems like it was probably really hard and annoying to draw, but it looks
nice.

Pilcrow

This one's also for paragraph breaks. Most people will be familiar with it, though not with the fact that it's
called a Pilcrow. It's also referred to as "The Blind P," which sounds like a good name for some hopelessly twee
indie band. "Pilcrow" is the Middle English word for "Paragraph." You will never be able to use that fun fact in
real life.

Snark

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Also called the Perconta on Point and the Irony Mark, this one's used to indicate that there's another layer of
meaning in a sentence. Usually a sarcas c or ironic one. So it is essen ally a tool for smart people to use to
make stupid people feel even stupider. Which makes it the best punctua on mark of all.

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Tagged: grammar, obscure punctua on marks, punctua on, punctua on marks, viral, cool, whoa, lol, win, geek

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14 Punctua on Marks That You Never Knew Existed

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noahmauldin
4 hours ago

I just discovered these in class today! Didn't know their meaning though l now.
Awesome
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The Hedera is called that because it looks like ivy. The heart shape is a leaf, the rest the
vine!
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Sco W.
8 hours ago

If some of these are new to you at age 22 you may need to go back to school.
The Interrobang though is fantas c.
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A Pea
10 hours ago

punctua on love
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mikeo8
12 hours ago

Around here we o en called the caret a circumflex.

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oOo
13 hours ago

Exclama on comma! Where have you been all this me?! I've needed you! See, I
needed you right there at the end of that first sentence!
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alexirosew
13 hours ago

Human language amazes me. Make these mandatory on all keyboards, stat!
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PersonalGenius
17 hours ago

I think most people know 1-4 & 6. And I wish the interrobang and snark were in my
symbols pale e.
The others I've never even seen before.
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Joshua W.
23 hours ago

guillements = thought-speak marks #animorphs

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lucyt2
a day ago

favourites are the interrobang and the snark. Oh and the Hedera, for no reason other
than it just plain looks nice. I already knew of interrobangs though.
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14 Punctua on Marks That You Never Knew Existed

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I thought my math teachers were calling the ^ a carrot. I know I'm certainly not the
only one, but nonetheless I feel very silly now.
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bookslut
a day ago

Love interrobangsounds kinky.

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benr11
a day ago

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joeb11
a day ago

Interrobang is a great word. It sounds like you're being ques oned by the police
when things suddenly and unexpectedly get sexy!
(Incidentally, my cousin has Asterism. It's no laughing ma er. We try not to bring it up
at family reunions.)
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stacyroseh
a day ago

I knew most of these already, but they are pre y ni y.

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jasontylerb
a day ago

SOMEONE UNDERSTANDS THE DOUBLE DAGGER!! (or diesis.)

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Ru n
a day ago

Nerd me just went to heaven. I smell a new tat!!!! Lol

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Igna us O'Toole
a day ago

- my favorite.
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a short haired girl

a day ago

how do people not know most of these?

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therblig
a day ago

- upside down ques on mark, also known as the splainu from its usage by Ricky
Ricardo:
Lucy, I got to splainu something !
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Knew some of them. Some of this are awesome. Can we start a pe

qwerty-extended keyboards that include these?
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cutestalker
a day ago

on to have

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