!!!!!!!!!!!

A fourteenth century Italian poet with the impressive name Iacopo Alpoleio da Urbisaglia claims the dubious distinction of inventing the exclamation mark. Some contend that the mark is a symbolic expression of the Latin expression of joy -io- rearranged and reimagined. As we experience the sharp rise in the sale of anxiety medications and the universal availability of mindfulness programs to reduce angst, it may be time to shelve this symbol.

Now I like excitement and the occasional hurrah as much as the next person but my attitude changed this morning as I read a post on our neighborhood’s web site. aI was informed as follows “Fluffy has been found !!!!! ” I am sure that Fluffy was much loved and I rejoice in Fluffy’s return but I resented the command to gush that the exclamation mark represented. I am equally upset when movies like Mamma Mia! or Oliver! require me to expect a particularly exciting movie experience. When I drive, warning signs sport the demanding mark. No Parking! seems too intense … a simple declarative would suffice. I wonder if the proliferation of exclamation says a lot about the state of our culture. We have become slaves to excitement and consumers of the mundane dressed in the raiment of false significance. Everything is larger than life except those things that really are larger. We tend to trivialize those things to keep ourselves unchallenged and comfortable. We need to calm down.

Mark Twain said it brilliantly: “One should never use exclamation points in writing. It is like laughing at your own joke.” The exclamation point is the punctuation equivalent of the selfie. Both scream, hey look at me. Tasteless.

I am still happy that Fluffy was found…huzzah!

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