Nuts and Bolts: Punctuation – Exclamation Point Abuse

Yes, get excited!  But not all of the time.  The overuse of exclamation marks can be exhausting. To be effective this powerful punctuation mark should be used sparingly, thoughtfully and correctly.  Below are some tips.

Purpose:  to indicate forceful utterance or strong feeling showing a vast range of emotions like love, anger, happiness, confusion, elation, surprise or other type of exuberant emotion.  Used especially after an interjection or exclamation.

Known as one of the three terminal punctuation marks it is only used at the end of a sentence, immediately after the last character

“Congratulations, you got the job!”  is correct

“Congratulations!  you got the job.”  is incorrect

No space in between

“That was great!”  is correct

“That was great !”  is incorrect

Although the official punctuation rules state the use of one and only one terminal mark, in honoring creative expression GCU will consider the use of multiples (!!) and the combination of (?!) if deemed by the review team to be fitting to the card design, style and message.

“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”  – Pablo Picasso