One exclamation point is enough!
Did you detect the strong emotion in the sentiment above? Of course you did! Because we used an exclamation point. An exclamation point. A single exclamation point.
In typed or written text, there’s no need for multiple exclamation points! This is not a persnickety syntactical complaint. This is not about being word nerds hung up on “proper” grammar and usage. This is about authenticity.
If tacking on an extra exclamation point or two required any real effort – like when using a hammer and chisel to etch stone – then the surplus punctuation might convey an extra strong emotion. But when an exclamation point is the result of a couple of key clicks or the drawing of a short vertical line and a dot, what real intensity is being communicated?
On paper or on screen, multiple exclamation points are just typographical pollution. They have been so overused that the exclamation point is on the verge of being pointless! It’s like when a well-known foul mouth stubs their toe and shouts an expletive. So what? Who cares?
You’ve got something to say? You feel strongly about it? Do you feel so strongly that you think a single exclamation point might be inadequate? Then look for better words!
If you feel intensely, then commit to the emotion and give it voice fairly and creatively. Otherwise, you are being insincere and non-committal when you use more than a single exclamation point.
One exclamation point is enough.
