If you are a bit obsessed, as I am, with our lovely language, any stories about its evolution or destruction are always of interest.

And here we have a little gem.

Because we now all plonk away on email for much of our working day, it seems, and because email is ever-so-slightly dehumanising compared to, say, letters written on thick paper with water marks, in ink of many beautiful colours, we have taken to using exclamation marks more and more to inject a bit of pizazz! A bit of zannyness! A bit of personality! And, of course, a bit of humour!!!

Whereas before exclamation marks were frowned upon except in very occasional cases, as the work of the demented, they are now fully embraced. And how!!

So, you don't send an email to a colleague thanking them for something very mundane they may have done for you without putting an exclamation mark - thank you! - on the end. If you don't you are dull as ditchwater. If you do you are upbeat, chummy, and a bit off-centre!!

It's a bit absurd, but a jolly little absurdity, and not half as confusing as cousin, the question mark, which, with the uptake of upspeak thinks it should now go on the end of every single sentence, as in "and it was, like, totally cool?"

I am inspired now and will try and pepper my emails with the bit players of the punctuation world to give them their little turn in the spotlight.

So, step forward the colon: straight-forward, traditional and unassuming; (you see, I also place a semi-colon there to help it get off the endangered list), and the enigmatic ellipsis. Hours of fun...



* If you had said to me ten years ago, or even five for that matter, that I would look forward to doing crossword with husband in garden after work each day, with cuppa in hand and reading glasses on, I would have looked at you aghast. But now, it is my little treat, followed by a half-hour's weeding. How sad am I?

sue.gilson@chiobserver.co.uk


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