I’ve been accused of overusing exclamation marks. So, I asked my long lost cousin his thoughts on the subject. Now, my cousin believes the world has gone bonkers with too many rules. He believes that he is filling a space in this world that no one else can fill, because he is unique. Because of this, his opinions, he believes, should be highly regarded.

So, I asked him the following questions, and got the following answers:

Q. What do you think of exclamation marks?

A. I love them. I love the look of them on the stark white paper. The more the better.

Q. Do you think, as my psychiatrist thinks, exclamation marks are therapeutic?

A. By all means, it is a way of getting your pent up feelings out. Get rid of those inner demons.

Q. But what about the rules of punctuation?

A. Well, you know my feelings about rules. I feel that anyone who derides the “ Marks”, is probably a funless, overly fastidious person.

Q. What is your definition of the “ Marks”?

A. Words of strong feeling need the “ Marks” after them. This shows excitement, anger, pain, surprise, fright and happiness. I am always excited when I write, hence the “Marks”.

Q. Someone told me that in the old days of manual typewriters, people didn’t use the “Marks” much. Do you why?

A. Yes, I do know. The old manual typewriters were not equipped with an exclamation mark key. So it was just too much trouble to have to type a full stop, then back space, then push the shift key and then type an apostrophe! What a-to-do!

Q. Why do you think the use of the “ Marks” has increased lately?

A. Well, people nowadays with the internet, want to express themselves more and get noticed. When I put a lot of the “ Marks” in my writing, I feel I’m getting a lot of attention.

Q. So, in conclusion, my cousin, would you be inclined to tell me and the world to continue using many “ Marks” ?

A. Absolutely! No question about it. The King’s English will be better for it. Apparently, the exclamation mark is derived from the Latin word for joy. More joy, that’s what I say.

“ Well, thank you, my cousin, for this enlightenment.”

“ You are entirely welcome!” he smiled.

The bottom line, my friends, is that the “ Marks” are valuable tools to show emphasis and excitement.

WOW! With all this white paper, I’m getting excited!!!